The Woman Who Fears the Lord
A Study of Proverbs 31
Verse 11
"The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain."
The first part of this verse seems pretty straight forward to me. The husband in the verse has an awesome wife. She is reliable and he has total confidence in her. He's got it made.
When I think of marriage and trust within that relationship, the first thing that comes to mind is being faithful. My husband has has my heart, mind and body. It is for him alone.
At our wedding, my husband and I said the traditional vows. It included "in sickness and health" and "'til death do us part." If my husband is going to completely trust me, I have to take those seriously. This is not easily done and requires much work. On both our parts, but we're only going to talk about mine.
At our wedding, my husband and I said the traditional vows. It included "in sickness and health" and "'til death do us part." If my husband is going to completely trust me, I have to take those seriously. This is not easily done and requires much work. On both our parts, but we're only going to talk about mine.
I feel like my husband and I had a challenging first nine years of marriage. There was a lot of death on both sides of our family; his father, grandparents, uncles and aunts, my mother and our first born son, William. Mix that with my high ideals of what marriage should be, my husband's battle with severe depression and unwise financial choices.
I was not a strong Proverbs 31 wife...
Fast forward to our 12th year of marriage. We are the best of friends, can (mostly) discuss things without ending up not speaking to each other for weeks, he's better at managing his depression and I know how to give him what he needs without letting the depression take over. We have two healthy and active boys and the best part, we know our love for each other is strong. If I were asked if my husband trusts me with all his heart, I would say yes.
Which leaves us with the second part of the verse, "he will lack no gain."
I don't think we're talking about material things here. It's not like God is saying that if a man is blessed enough to have a Proverbs 31 wife, he'll have a great job, always have the money they need or want, he'll drive awesome cars and they'll live in a gorgeous home. Nope. I really don't think that is what God feels is important.
God looks into our inner most being. Our spirit. It's what connects us to Him and what we will have for all eternity. The Proverbs 31 wife will help her husband's spiritual life. Depending on what the needs are, she will meet them.
For my husband, at this point in his life, this means a lot of prayer and little to no "suggestions" from me. It builds my own character as I pray about and wait for the things I see he needs, the ideas I believe will help him, and the areas which only God knows about. If my husband will lack no gain, I must spend less time talking and more time in prayer.
Over the last year, I've been working on praying more (and nagging less). I asked my husband back in November if we could start attending Wednesday night Bible studies. I felt like it was important for us to go as a family. He said and I quote, "I'll think about it." So, I prayed. My prayer was that if it was something that God wanted us to do, He would change my husband's heart. If not, I prayed that he would change mine. I asked one more time in December and got the same answer. As we pulled out of the church parking lot on a wintery January morning, my husband said "Pastor Tim is teaching a class on Wednesday's about American History and how it relates to the bible. I'd like to go." All I said was, "Okay."
Prayer... it's changing us both.
I was not a strong Proverbs 31 wife...
Fast forward to our 12th year of marriage. We are the best of friends, can (mostly) discuss things without ending up not speaking to each other for weeks, he's better at managing his depression and I know how to give him what he needs without letting the depression take over. We have two healthy and active boys and the best part, we know our love for each other is strong. If I were asked if my husband trusts me with all his heart, I would say yes.
Which leaves us with the second part of the verse, "he will lack no gain."
I don't think we're talking about material things here. It's not like God is saying that if a man is blessed enough to have a Proverbs 31 wife, he'll have a great job, always have the money they need or want, he'll drive awesome cars and they'll live in a gorgeous home. Nope. I really don't think that is what God feels is important.
God looks into our inner most being. Our spirit. It's what connects us to Him and what we will have for all eternity. The Proverbs 31 wife will help her husband's spiritual life. Depending on what the needs are, she will meet them.
For my husband, at this point in his life, this means a lot of prayer and little to no "suggestions" from me. It builds my own character as I pray about and wait for the things I see he needs, the ideas I believe will help him, and the areas which only God knows about. If my husband will lack no gain, I must spend less time talking and more time in prayer.
Over the last year, I've been working on praying more (and nagging less). I asked my husband back in November if we could start attending Wednesday night Bible studies. I felt like it was important for us to go as a family. He said and I quote, "I'll think about it." So, I prayed. My prayer was that if it was something that God wanted us to do, He would change my husband's heart. If not, I prayed that he would change mine. I asked one more time in December and got the same answer. As we pulled out of the church parking lot on a wintery January morning, my husband said "Pastor Tim is teaching a class on Wednesday's about American History and how it relates to the bible. I'd like to go." All I said was, "Okay."
Prayer... it's changing us both.
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