Devotions

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But I’m Nothing Like the Proverbs 31 Woman …
December 12, 2024
by Lysa TerKeurst
President and Chief Visionary Officer of Proverbs 31 Ministries

“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” Proverbs 31:30 (ESV)

Do you ever feel like you don’t measure up because of what you’ve been through?

Me too.  When I first read Proverbs 31 which describes a woman of noble character several years ago as a young mom, I thought the Proverbs 31 woman was overwhelmingly perfect.  Through many other seasons and hard realities I’ve walked through, I’ve found myself feeling not just intimidated by Proverbs 31 but sometimes even defeated by this woman whose entire life seems full of praises.  That’s why I feel especially tender toward those of you who would rather skip over this passage of Scripture. I know what it’s like to have these words sit heavy on your heart with a resounding declaration of I’m not enough.  But what if I told you the intention behind Proverbs 31:10-31 is celebration and not condemnation?

The first thing I want us to take note of is that this isn’t just a chapter about a wife of noble character. It’s about a woman of valor. A courageous woman. A woman of strength and dignity.  And the fact that you are reading this devotion, seeking God, and pursuing healing for the painful circumstances you’ve walked through is evidence that you are a woman of valor, courage, strength and dignity. So Proverbs 31 is for you and me.  In Jewish culture, these verses are read out loud on the Sabbath as a celebration of women. This in no way condemns women for what they aren’t; it celebrates how each woman, in her own unique expressions, can live out the virtues detailed in this chapter. These aren’t words meant to tell a woman she is supposed to be more. They are a celebration of who she is.  Isn’t that the way it should be?

Courageous women celebrating each other and being celebrated by those they love. All under the banner of honoring God, serving out of love and smiling at the future. I also love how Proverbs 31:30 reminds us of what’s truly worth celebrating: “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.”

It’s not a woman with a spotless house who is to be praised. It’s not the mom with perfectly behaved children. It’s not just a woman who is married and has children.  It’s the woman who fears the Lord who is to be praised. And this type of fear refers to being completely in awe of God. It describes a woman who honors God by seeking Him in everything she does and trusting Him wholeheartedly. Her reverence overflows into a life of spiritual maturity and wisdom.  And let’s not forget to look at today’s verses within the context of why God gave us this book of the Bible. The very first chapter of Proverbs tells us it exists so we can gain wisdom, instruction, understanding, insight, knowledge, discretion and guidance. Proverbs 2:1-5 goes on to remind us that as we receive and apply God’s commands, we will be able to understand how to find the knowledge of the Lord.  Wisdom is both a gift from God and a process of learning. Proverbs 31 can easily trip us up but what if we take God at His Word and choose to believe these words hold good and pleasant things for us?

What if we challenge ourselves to look at this passage closely, receiving it as a gift to us and seeing what verses we need to learn from?

What if we speak these words over ourselves and the women in our lives as a form of celebration instead of condemnation, realizing that our stories don’t disqualify us?

God tucked these words into His Word for all eternity, dear friend. And that tells me they are needed and meant for our good. Let’s ask Him to help us learn from them today.

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Open the Door to God’s Gifts
December 16, 2024
by Bob Goff

“… Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.” Acts 12:16 (NIV)

Sometimes we can be so busy, distracted or doubtful that we don’t realize what we were praying for is already knocking at the door.  Picture this: The Apostle Peter’s in prison in Jerusalem, about to go on trial. He’s chained to two guards while other guards stand at the prison gate. Then an angel shows up in his cell, the chains fall off Peter’s wrists, and the angel leads Peter past the guards as the jail doors open. The angel disappears as soon as they’re out on the street.  “Then Peter came to himself and said, ‘Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches …’” (Acts 12:11, NIV).

Peter ran from the prison to John Mark’s house, where “the church was earnestly praying to God for him” (Acts 12:5, NIV).

When he knocked at the door, a servant named Rhoda came to answer. But when she heard Peter’s voice, she hurried to tell everyone else.  Wait, what?

she must have thought. Isn’t everyone upstairs praying for Peter, hoping he will escape jail?

She was so stunned she didn't even open the door! Certainly her motives were not bad, but she left the gift standing on the doorstep.  The people gathered upstairs did the same. Rather than believe it could be true that their prayers were answered, they told Rhoda, “You’re out of your mind.  It must be his angel” (Acts 12:15, NIV). As they rifled through explanations and possibilities, “Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished” (Acts 12:16).

As we approach a new year, think about what this story tells us. Sometimes God is at work doing things we either don’t notice or don’t believe. God has answered our prayers, but we come up with another explanation for what’s occurring.  In other words, we say, “Nothing is impossible with God” (see Genesis 18:14a, Matthew 19:26 and Luke 1:37).

But deep down, we don’t believe it. We get stuck in our ruts even in prayer and forget to open our eyes.  God does not want us to spend our lives caught up in figuring out His will for us but instead wants us to discover an adventurous, trusting relationship with Him, one full of connection, wonder and possibility.  The new year is a great time to fling wide the door and celebrate what God is already doing in your life. To wake up each morning committed to growing closer to the God of the impossible. You are surrounded by the miraculous every day. Don’t dismiss it or ignore it and don’t leave what God has done in your life standing at the door, waiting for you to pay attention.

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Finding Joy in a Complicated Christmas
December 25, 2024
by Elizabeth Laing Thompson

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:14 (NIV)

On Christmas night in 2005, I watched my father hold my daughter, his first grandchild, for the first time. Only an hour old, she blinked bright eyes up at him, and his eyes filled with tears. I felt a riot of emotions: transcendent joy, heart-bursting gratitude, and lurking underneath a shadow of fear. Watching Dad, I couldn’t forget his announcement two nights earlier: “I have cancer.”

We’d spent years praying for our miracle baby, and here on Christmas night, God had given us the greatest gift of our lives. Our joy should have been complete, but a fearful voice kept whispering, This joy is fragile. What if Dad’s not here next Christmas?

I couldn’t help but ask God, Tonight of all nights, why can’t we just be happy?

Maybe you know the feeling of a complicated Christmas. For one day, we long to feel peace and to celebrate unhindered but a chair at Christmas dinner sits empty. Work and finances are overwhelming. A relationship feels distant. We might sing “joy to the world,” but the joy in our world is incomplete.  Two thousand years ago, celestial music the first Christmas carols rang out to celebrate Jesus’ birth:  “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests’” (Luke 2:13-14, NIV).

Heaven’s delight resounded over fields and flocks, inviting all to celebrate. Meanwhile, an evil king plotted from a crooked throne: When King Herod heard that a Jewish king had been born, he felt threatened and eventually killed all the baby boys in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:13-18). The heartbreak defies words. Jesus was born into the mess of a world gone mad, a world that desperately needed Him to save it.  Was the first Christmas a perfect day, free of sin and sorrow?

No.  But was it still a day of astounding joy?

Yes.  Angels interrupted a sleepy night to throw a surprise party with shepherds. God ushered happiness into a humble stable and a young couple’s arms. He surprised them with joy just as He does for us.  No Christmas is ever perfect, but if we watch closely, we can catch God’s joy breaking through: in knee hugs from exuberant toddlers, in silly dances in the kitchen while cooking Christmas dinner, in sentimental tears as we retell cherished stories.  When Jesus was born, joy broke through. Heaven’s light surprised our dark world. For a few sparkling moments, shepherds saw beyond the veil past the imperfection of the here and now glimpsing heaven’s glory and hearing heaven’s songs.  Because of that day, we can stand with the shepherds and sing with the angels. We can sing whether today feels like a miracle, a mess, or a muddle of both. We can sing because God’s light overcomes darkness, and His joy breaks through.

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How Do I Know It’s God’s Will?
December 30, 2024
by Abby McDonald

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12 (NASB)

I could hear the apprehension in my friend’s voice.  “How do I know it’s God’s will?” she asked.

Her question was one I’d wrestled with many times. We had been discussing an aspiration she’d had for months, and I heard her passion and desire to share God’s love with others. I knew she wanted to move forward, but she hesitated.  So I responded, “Well, why wouldn’t this be God’s will?”

She sat there for a moment, considering my words. “That’s a great question,” she said. “I don’t know.”

I understood my friend’s hesitation because I’ve lived it I often don’t trust my own desires. After all, doesn’t Jeremiah 17:9 warn us that the human heart is deceitful?

It’s easy to forget that when we follow Jesus, He transforms our hearts. The more we spend time with Him and study His Word, the more He reshapes our desires. While our motivations will never be completely faultless in this life, God equips us to discern His will and His voice. In fact, our desires are one of the ways God leads us.  Proverbs describes the beautiful outcome of a desire fulfilled:

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12).

In the original Hebrew language, the word for “desire” used here is taavah. Do you know where else this word is used?

In Genesis, before Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight [taavah] to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate ....” (Genesis 3:6, NASB).

So what causes some desires to lead to life and others to spiritual death?

Our desire will always follow our delight. When we delight ourselves in the Lord, our desires will follow (Psalm 37:4). But if something else takes precedence, our desires like Eve’s will be misguided.  God’s will is for us to seek Him first. When we do, our desires can become thriving trees of life, bearing good fruit and displaying His love for others to witness.  Friend, I don’t know what desires and dreams you’ve kept buried, hidden from God out of fear of what may happen if you share them but can I tell you something?

God’s will is for you to share all of you with all of Him.  His will is for you to confide in Him dreams, desires and ambitions. And as you do, He will bring forth new life.