Accidentally Fabulous (My take on the Proverbs31 woman)

Now that I have the blessing and responsibility of being the wife to my (handsome, easygoing, intelligent, patient, and amazing) husband, I have been taking a closer look at Proverbs 31:10-31. Therein lies the infamous description of the virtuous woman aka the wife of noble character aka super woman. This woman is the real deal! She is a money saving, early rising, good humored, seamstress business woman who does her husband good all the days of her life. That's not even all of it. iDare you to read it for yourself.  Click here to do just that.

For a long time, this is what I envisioned this woman looking like. 

So that's what I thought I was supposed to become. If she did it so could I, right? Only one problem. I only have 2 arms. In the midst of my re-strategizing, something happened in my heart. 

Jesus spoke to it. 

He drew my eyes closer to the end of the passage. It was verse 30 in particular. It reads, "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised." 

I think it's important that I share the following before I continue. First of all, this passage was written as an acrostic poem. How cool is that?

Writing poetry is one of the things that I like to do from time to time. When writing poetry, there was always a special significance to the ending of the piece. You see the end of the piece is what usually tied everything together. It was that "Aha!" moment that gets responses in performance. 

Verse 30 was it, and my heart was exploding with response. I have heard this taught before, but there was revelation like never before this time around. Here's the earth shattering truth. Everything that I read about this woman was made possible and significant through her life of living in fear (reverence) of The Lord Jesus Christ. 

The beginning part of Psalm 111:10 says this, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom...."

Read it in the Amplified Version for a bit more detail. Right here.

How wonderfully poetic to put this foundational truth towards the end of the passage! 

Let's think about this some more. Let's put a face on this woman. If the fear (reverential fear and worship) of The Lord is the beginning of wisdom (and skill), then is it possible that this woman didn't even know how great she was? Is it possible that she did not have schooling on every single thing that she excelled in? Is it possible that she had some mistakes along the way? Is it possible that she was accidently fabulous?

I think so.We all have the need for God's mercy every single moment of every day. I think she simply knew one  thing, and she knew it well. Her secret was that she sought God. She lived in the fear of Him, and that was only the beginning. It was God that led her, prepared her, and made her this great woman that we compare ourselves to and lose. I'm beginning to think that she looks something like this.

I believe she looks more like us. She feels, thinks, and struggles like we do. I think she wakes up early in the morning to spend time alone with Jesus. She asks Him for direction and trusts Him enough to follow. God delights in her ways and brings her to places that she she never thought she would go. When given her turn to speak, I think she would carefully choose words greater than her own. I think she would put it this way.

"Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met." (Matthew 6:33 The Message translation)

iDare. Do you?