Feminism...From God’s point of view…Part 2 - Trapped or Trusted?

When I was 17, having just finished high school in Hawaii, I told my mom that I was going to move out and live in the D.C. area. My mom agreed. On the afternoon before my evening flight, I sat with my mom. She could see I was disturbed. She asked me what was wrong. I told her that I was bothered, when my two older brothers wanted to move out, they were both 20 at the time and were only moving 15-20 miles away, she argued with them. Here I am 17, moving over 4,800 miles away…and she helped me pack! She laughed and looked me straight in the eye, smiling and said, “Nathan, of my four boys you are the one I have never worried about, I know you could always talk yourself into a meal!”

The qualities that a godly woman has can challenge men so much, if they are wise it makes them better men.

We saw that a godly woman is Mature.

As we continue through Proverbs 31, let’s discover more of these qualities.

A second quality of a godly woman is that she is an Overseer

Overseer Defined: To look or see after, to take care of

¹³ She finds wool and flax and busily spins it. ¹⁴ She is like a merchant’s ship, bringing her food from afar. ¹⁵ She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plan the day’s work for her servant girls. ¹⁶ She goes to inspect a field and buys it; with her earnings she plants a vineyard. ¹⁷ She is energetic and strong, a hard worker. ¹⁸ She makes sure her dealings are profitable; her lamp burns late into the night. ¹⁹ Her hands are busy spinning thread, her fingers twisting fiber.                       

She manages things. Notice the kinds of things; big and small! A great Christian leader used to ask his disciples 9 questions. One of them was quite revealing – How does he handle the little things? Pick up his clothes, make his bed, and clean the dishes…because it is the little things that show the true character of a person.  This woman manages all the tasks in her life, exciting and mundane.

²⁰ She extends a helping hand to the poor and opens her arms to the needy.

She manages her responsibility of being part of the human community by extending care to those less fortunate. It is normal to take care of your “own”, but the heart is revealed when we love those we do not know. She has compassion.

²¹ She has no fear of winter for her household, for everyone has warm clothes.

She manages her future by being prepared. This is proactive oversight, thinking ahead and looking for possible needs.

²² She makes her own bedspreads. She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns.

She manages herself. She uses her skills to bless her family and she pays attention to how she looks. This is not vanity, but an understanding that how she looks does reflect how she views what it means to be a temple of the Lord and how she represents her family. I understand this because I am one of those that struggle with weight. The important issue is “struggle”. When we just don’t care and give in, our weaknesses will rule us! We all have weaknesses, but we should never give up or give in to them. God honors the struggle!

²⁴ She makes belted linen garments and sashes to sell to the merchants

She knows how to manage “extra.” This shows she understanding the stewardship of opportunity. After taking care of what she believes is needed for her family, she uses the extra as investment. This would apply not only to money, but also to time. Many blow every extra moment they have on useless things. A good overseer understands that even leisure time should be invested…it should produce restoration and renewal in our life.  

²⁷ She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness.

           

She carefully watches the ways of her children, husband and home, and does not model laziness or idleness. This is not a woman that is “trapped” – no she understands the importance and influence of her life and desires to be a faithful steward.

There are four more qualities to come, but let’s take a pause and consider what kind of Overseer are we. Where do we fall short, what do we plan to do about it? Where do we excel – are we modeling it to our disciples?