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The Bible tells us of a woman that her price is far above rubies. How can any woman achieve this in a world like we live in today? How many times have I prayed to be this woman and failed? It has seemed like a journey that has been a complete failure at times. But then just when I've felt like giving up...love has stepped up to the plate and batted a homerun!
Proverbs 31:20 says "She extends her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy." (NKJV) Yes, I can say I've done this when it sometimes hurt. But that pain has been far exceeded by the love I received back just when I least expected it.
Proverbs 31:25 says "Strength and honor are her clothing: she shall rejoice in time to come." (NKJV) When Lord? When do I get to rejoice? But then I hear a still small voice tells me to look around and see what the Lord has done. I then remember when a homeless little girl reached up and asked for a hug. Her face dirty and her clothes were not second-hand but third or fourth-hand. As her tiny arms wrapped around my neck...I rejoiced. For you see, I know her pain. I know how it feels to be all alone, scared, and confused. Thank you, God, for allowing me to comfort someone else when I had no strength and certaintly no honor to speak of!
Proverbs 31:29 then tells us "Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all." (NKJV) Oh, to hear those precious words from the one who loves me the most and knows me at my worst! I have heard these things and I'm grateful for His glorious love that has kept me on this journey thus far.
So while He keeps working on me through this journey of love....join me and we will walk together through a foreign land where life can be so crazy at times. It is taken one day at a time and with a fresh supply of love everyday. The well of love never runs out and you learn how to give love as well as receive love in the same manner! |
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Esther - A Queen in the Making |
Esther....a woman was an orphan adopted by Mordecai and then lived in a foreign land. How scary this must have been! To long for your parents, your own home as well as your homeland, and then you are thrust into the palace of the King. You don't feel secure in who you are and what you believe...now we're going to re-make you. Have you ever been in a place or time when everything seemed foreign and surreal? Who could you trust? What are the peoples' motives around you? What is the real agenda? If I had been Esther, I would have longed to escape and find a safe place to hide. But there was no place to hide and she had to go where she was being led.
She must have felt the same way because at one point Mordecai told her in Esther 4:13, 14 "...Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king's palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a times as this?" (NKJV) So now was the time to stand up and be counted. Now was the time to speak or else.
What choice do you have when the God of the Heavens and Earth says you are right where I want you to be. You can run if you really want to. But is there any peace of mind when we do this? In my own life I've found that when I didn't obey my Lord and my God, I've encountered trials that I could've avoided. So why do I bring up Esther? Because she was a Proverbs 31 woman who obeyed and gained so much more than she could've ever dreamed.
Can you or I measure up to this great lady? Yes, because in the King's presence there is fullness of joy. There is a love, contentment, victory, and peace that passes all understanding. Trials begin to make sense. Storms become a place to take a nap in the bottom of the boat. Mountains become a glorious experience that causes us to soar as eagles. Esther had to wait 12 months before she was ready to begin her service. There was much grooming and training to be learned. But because she was faithful and waited, she did as Isaiah 40:31 tells us. "But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." (NKJV) Because of Esther's obedience, a nation was saved and God's perfect will done. |
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Ruth - Sacrificial Living |
Ruth, a widowed Moabite, knows with all her heart that she must begin a new journey with her mother-in-law, Naomi. They are to journey to Bethlehem and start a new life. Ruth's heart led her to say to Naomi "Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God." Ruth 1:16 (NKJV) Ruth was determined to go with Naomi no matter what the cost. This sacrifice of love had to have been filled with hardships on the journey, a new city, and new people. Everything was completely new...a new territory that was being enlarged for Ruth and the children she didn't have yet. But how could Ruth have known that this decision would bring so much joy? She had already endured losing her husband, family, and all that she knew as normal. How many times has God led me down new paths that scared me beyond reason?
Starting over can be the most terrifying experience if we do it without God. But when I've gotten still before God and listened...wonderful things have happened that made me stronger in my faith for my beautiful Savior Jesus Christ. I've obtained new hope, deeper love for Him, and peace that has sustained me when the storms blew. I imagine that Ruth would have agreed with Isaiah 6:8 "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?' Then I said, 'Here am I! Send me.'" (NKJV) This is why I feel so strongly that I need to encourage others...."Go! Dare to step out and overcome any obstacles! We are needed as individuals to take the message of hope and love that only Jesus Christ can give."
I read in a Christian magazine the following: "If you are willing to give up your freedom you feet will always be in the right place at the right time, if you are willing to get dirty you will reap the eternal rewards of being a servant and if you are willing to let your feet hurt they will become stronger. Maybe someone will look at your feet, see where they have traveled, sense your sacrifice and see Jesus." You see, this is the the journey of love...the highs and the lows, the laughter and the tears, changing seasons that hurt so badly when we are being stretched to grow more like Jesus. So many things that we truly have in common and sometimes we are too afraid to go forward. How can I not say as Esther, Ruth, and Isaiah...."Send me."? Would you join me as I write of my own struggles and victories? For if you do, you will see that each step has been ordered by my God! The journey begins... |
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Jabez, was one who longed for something more than what the rest of his family wanted. His name meant "pain" and he prayed a simple prayer. It is found in I Chronicles 4:9, 10 "Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, 'I gave birth to him in pain.' Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, 'Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.' And God granted his request." (NIV) In the New King James Version verse 10 says "And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, 'Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!' So God granted him what he requested."
This simple yet honorable man is never mentioned before or after this. He sought not what he wanted but what God wanted. He cried out to the Lord in a simple prayer that was heard and answered. So when the journey of love takes a detour and the road seems foreign....maybe, just maybe, He is enlarging our territories.
The uncomfortable feeling of being a stranger in a foreign land almost becomes second nature because God can never be accused of being boring. Just when we think we can sit back and relax on our laurels....hello, it's another adventure that makes us draw nearer to God thus becoming more like Him daily.
I often have longed for a euthopia that doesn't exist. Just one place Lord where I can have eternal peace, love, harmony and hopefully a little bit of quiet. No arguing, hating, backbiting, strife, or confusion. Guess what? That place doesn't exist on this earth. That's why we get to go to Heaven!
I've found in times of the worst chaos He has been with me in the eye of the storm. That is the safest place to be, after all. Ask anyone who knows because they have all the college degrees or because they live in places where they have hurricane seasons. Sometimes it feels like I'm being hit by hurricanes. These seasons of stormy days and nights are helping my soul...spirit...every part of my being!!!
So far all that I have encountered has led me to realize that when I prayed like Jabez, God heard and answered my cry. Now He is enlarging my territory, my thinking, my heart, my soul, my mind, my spirit, and healing my body. Yet I am glad that God has seen fit to lead me to this time and place. It is just part of the journey that seems to be making more sense as I see more of the puzzle that is His and His alone. This journey of love is all about Him! |
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How many times have I gotten confused and lost my way because I did forget that it is all about Him? I've been foolish or didn't even stop to realize why God put me on this Earth. It wasn't so I could have a perfect life with my perfect man and no problems. There is no island of paradise where the harsh realities of life don't touch us.
Now don't get me wrong...I am waiting for God's perfect timing with the man He has for me and I've been blessed abundantly with so many great gifts from above. I have three sons who I love and adore that are "Christ-like" men of the Lord. They are respectively 24, 22, and 20. No, I'm not 95 years old....only 44 years old! But in this time when I don't feel like a Proverbs 31 woman, Esther, or Ruth at times, I see God changing me inside. He keeps reminding me again and again that I am here for His glory, honor, and praise. He delights when I do listen, hear, and obey. I am highly favored and blessed as His daughter.
All He asks for from me is to worship Him. Praise Him in all circumstances! When Israel would go out to battle, Judah (meaning Praise) always led. They sang and worshiped the Lord who always brought about their victories when they trusted in Him and Him alone. This isn't always easy to do. Sometimes in the wee hours of the morning when I can't sleep because of pain from my body or dwelling on the trials that are combating against me....I want to scream out and tell everyone to go away. I have to immediately remind myself that I asked God to use me and make me more like Him. So that means I have to go through some things that make no sense, rhyme, or reason.
He knows my course that leads to part of His Vision. He knows the role I must play in this great orchestration that He is conducting and I then humbly ask Him to give me strength. Just when the pain in my body becomes unbearable....I feel His touch and blessed sleep claims my weary body, mind, and soul! When it seems like all of Hell has assembled against me....He turns the situation around. His Word is true when He says that what the enemy means for my evil, He will use for my good! That is the time to remember that "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee." Isaiah 26:3 (KJV) I do trust in you Lord. |
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