Proverbs 31 Woman (Part 4) Strong and Wise

In Proverbs 31 we read of a woman who possessed several different types of strength and wisdom In her fear of the Lord (see part 1), she grew to demonstrate strength physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. In her fear of the Lord, she pointed people to the truth of God’s character, promises, and the hope of Christ.

Let’s look at strength and wisdom.

A biblical woman has strength in a variety of ways

17 She dresses herself  with strength

    and makes her arms strong.

Dressing with strength sounds like 1 Peter 5:5 “Clothe yourselves with humility” and the virtues believers are to “Put On”. She “dresses herself with strength” is intentional. This is a daily choice to be strong. - We will see that strength includes physical strength, mental strength, emotional strength, spiritual strength. 

Verse 17 specifically says “she makes her arms strong” - this woman has the physical strength she needs to do what life requires of her. There is a level of physical stewardship -  we need to build strength physically through doing the tasks and work we do. Certainly, there are times when injury, or illness, or even a chronic situation would prevent a woman from having “strong arms”. God sometimes gives us physical limitations. I broke my arm in October and had surgery and physically couldn’t do things for a couple of months. I was not dishonoring to God to not make dinner for a few weeks. But, I also needed to work to regain strength so that I could do my job that involves lifting, typing, and teaching.

This is not a woman who has “male strength”. That is different due to God’s design of men and women being different. But she is taking care of her physical health to be able to do what is required of her.

Proverbs 31 encourages us to have strong faith.

Verse 21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,

    for all her household are clothed in scarlet.

This is a strength of a different kind. This is strong faith. Not being afraid is spiritual strength and mental strength. She doesn’t have unnecessary fear of the future, or difficult situations because she fears God and trusts Him. This is the opposite of worry or anxiety. When she is tempted to worry or anxiety, she stops and prays. She renews her mind in the truth of God’s character, His promises, His work in Christ and chooses to trust Him. She allows truth to prevail over emotion. She is confident in God’s provision and care.

Not being afraid means she has her desires in check. If she is fearful, she doesn’t want to lose something. She is confident in God’s plan, not focused on what she wants life to turn out to be. 

She’s not afraid because she trusts that whatever the future brings, God out of His wisdom, goodness, love, and faithfulness will be with her and is using “ALL THINGS” to make her like Christ.

25 Strength and dignity are her clothing,

    and she laughs at the time to come.

Again, strength and dignity are referred to as clothing. This is intentionally choosing daily to demonstrate strength and dignity, which means majesty, honor, excellence. 

Jerry Bridges in Trusting God says that "We must be prepared to embrace wholeheartedly that trust is not a passive state of mind, it is a vigorous act of the soul by which we choose to lay hold of the promises of God and cling to them despite the adversity that at times seems to overwhelm us. “

This is the strength of the mind, of character, of emotions. She is choosing to be strong and dignified as she responds to her daily activities. Her mind is “stayed on the Lord” (Isaiah 26:4-5). Her eyes are “fixed on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2) She takes time to know God’s word and meditate on it so she has God’s word at her disposal when she faces a difficult situation.

She can laugh at the future because she is not going to get derailed by a situation that seems out of control or if things don’t go the way she wants them to. Her emotions are surrendered to the Lord because her desires are surrendered to the Lord. She wants what God wants and trusts Him.

Again, she doesn’t just react in emotions, she stops and thinks rightly about God and His character and promises. She responds based on truth, not emotions. She would rather honor God than be anxious over the future and focus on what she wants. She trusts God’s plan.

She can laugh at the time to come because she has prepared herself well. She has looked to the future, and made wise decisions. She has prepared as best as she can, and now she chooses to trust God for whatever circumstances God puts her in.

“She laughs” because she is confident in the Lord. She knows nothing is outside of God’s plan to make her more like Christ. She has joy knowing He true need - A SAVIOR - has already been provided.

Next, we see a wise woman on display in Proverbs 31.

She is wise. Being wise means we point people to the hope of Christ and the truth of God’s word.

VS 26 says, “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness was on her tongue.”

Both verse 25 and 26 show this woman has wisdom. Wisdom is fearing God. Wisdom is knowing God’s word and knowing how to apply it to your specific life and circumstances. 

This woman knows God’s word! You cannot be wise without knowing God and His word. She “fears” the Lord. 

Proverbs 9:10

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,

    and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”

She has reverence and awe of God. She treasures, values, and worships God and His word. This has made her wise! It’s not too late to learn God’s Word and become wise! As long as you have breath on this earth, you can grow in wisdom!!

She shares this wisdom with other people. She does NOT give her opinion. She does NOT share what she has read from a Google Search or what an influencer said. She’s not sharing what WebMD says or the latest ‘research’.  She shares WISDOM from God’s word. 

When someone complains about not sleeping , do you point them to the hope of God knowing their situation, that Psalms says He counts our tossings in bed. Do you ask questions to understand if they are anxious about something or if there is something keeping them up at night so you can address the situation biblically? 

OR 

Do you offer a remedy you’ve read about on-line or suggest a specific tea, lavender or some other quick fix.

When someone is struggling with a relationship, do you offer Oprah advice or encourage them to cut off a relationship that doesn’t bring them joy?

OR

Do you point to them the truth that God is sovereign over all and puts difficult people in our path as part of the “ALL THINGS” He uses to refine us and transform us into the image of His Son.

Take note of what counsel you give. Is it truly God’s wisdom?