Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. ~ Proverbs 31:10
Abba wrote an entire Proverb just about us women. His ideal woman! Truth be told the woman in this Proverb seemed a bit overwhelming to me. A Martha Stewart on steroids! She seemed so unattainable to me as a young wife and mother. How could I possibly be all those things that this woman was?
But Abba didn’t give us a picture of a woman that we couldn’t be. He wasn’t dangling a carrot in front of us… teasing us with an image that was impossible to walk in. Nor did He give us a picture of a woman that we should strive to become! What He did give us in this picture of His ideal woman is a picture of us. A snapshot of who we already are. Of what we actually look like through His eyes.
The word virtuous used to describe the Proverbs 31 woman is chayil. This word includes the possession of whatever attributes are needed to carry out the task at hand. All of the attributes of what is needed for you to be the woman He designed you to be are already inside you.
There are 150 words in Hebrew in this poem. Female in Hebrew is nekeiva (nun-kuf-beit-hei) Nun kuf is 150 and beit hei is a spelling for bah which means “in her.” Together that literally says “150 in her.” All the words, all the meaning, all the potential and all the beauty of the 150 words is within us as females. I love that!
The pressure is off! We don’t have to strive to become this woman. She is not an ideal that we are trying to achieve. All of her qualities are already in us waiting for us to wake up to and walk in. We are fully equipped to be what our husbands and families need to excel and to prosper in their destinies.
The Proverbs 31 woman is more true to the Hebrew text when it uses words like this… “who can find a powerful, mighty, valiant woman?” Synonyms for these three words include wielding power, superhuman, influential, strong, unafraid and brave. WOW! This woman in the simplest translation is a warrior.
Abba is saying with this Proverb, “This is a picture of you My daughter of Grace!”
Rest in this!
Stop trying to become…. and just BE who you have always been, God’s ideal woman… perfect and complete in Him!
~ Robin
It Is Finished 