31:16-18
good morning
16. She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
17. She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong.
18. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable, her lamp does not go out at night.
Well, I’m obviously not going to buy a field or grow grapes, so how on Earth am I supposed to embody this verse?
I was stuck, truly stuck on these next few lines of scripture. Maybe I could have gone to one of my local vineyards and asked them to hand me a shovel, but that felt inappropriate. In the current climate, buying a vineyard felt to me to be a very poor investment.
I pondered verse 16 in my heart for weeks, to be transparent. I really gave it thought, because I didn’t know how I was supposed to interpret it. One morning, I woke up and it hit me: a field can represent something of value, or something that can produce value. It is something one considers after an immense amount of hard work, and then they have to continue working hard to maintain its value. To be plain, it is an investment.
What is an investment? The answer may differ depending on who you ask. To the businessman, it may be stocks or bonds. To the teenager, it may be years spent in braces in the hopes of having straightened teeth. To the Proverbs 31 woman, it may be raising godly children to fear the Lord, nurturing her family (and herself), honoring her husband, preparing meals for her household, etc. As a young woman who has neither a husband nor a family to look after, my investments as they pertain to individuals in my life tend to be placed mostly in my friendships.
I fiercely value my privacy, and while I am pleased to say that I invested time, energy, and effort into a friendship that I knew needed extra care, how I managed that is something I believe needs to remain private. For the sake of my readers, I want to make this clear: if you are a young woman who wants to make more effort as far as your friendships are concerned, there are many ways that you can invest. Do you write letters to your friends? Do you buy them a cup of coffee when you know they’re having a hard day? When was the last time you saw them? If you value your friendship more than something as simple (and in this case as biblical) as real estate, by comparison planting a vineyard should feel like a walk in the park.
Once I was able to work through the idea of planting a vineyard, I knew precisely how I wanted to approach verse 17. I never want to be perceived as someone easily influenced, or swayed. I have become a strong person by means of situations that at one point made me feel weak or vulnerable. I never want to appear prideful or conceited, but I want the strength that God has blessed me with to be as subtle as a whisper and as firm as a handshake. As I prayed for my inward strength to be made obvious to those around me, I witnessed a change in how strangers treated me. I tend to stand out in public- I dress modestly whilst doing my best to not look frumpy. I am not the kind of person to wear athleisure unless I’m exercising, so I sometimes look a bit overdressed at the grocery store or post office.
However, the number of men and women who have started conversations with me in the past month, and genuinely expressed a desire to connect with me, or who remarked on how I carry myself surprised me. The new connections I am making at church and with the congregation continues to encourage me in my walk to carry myself with strength, and to keep myself strong by continuing to pursue biblical strength and wellbeing. As it pertains to making sure that what I create is profitable, my enthusiasm at my workplace has certainly increased. How I go into each day (with a mindset of gratitude for His provision), how I approach each task and project has shifted, and with that shift there has been a subsequent increase in productivity. I am genuinely surprised at the end of my workday by how much I have accomplished. A month ago, I would have said that I was working hard but not hard enough. Now I can say that I am putting in the work and seeing its ripple effect!
My nights have been late (as this night currently is). I don’t want to go to bed without having given serious thought to the blessings and lessons of that day, and how I may prepare for the one to come. I have seen the hours tick by as I continued reading through my devotional, but this no longer intimidates me. I wake up each day (still early, of course) ready to see what God has in store. I work hard to ensure that I am doing my best, and not giving lukewarm effort.
Each day this month has started with a renewed sense of enthusiasm, despite what is definitely a distinct lack of sleep by comparison to the months prior. In turn, each day has ended with a resounding sense of purpose and calm.