Welcome back to another week at He Is Our Story. I approach each episode of this podcast trying to answer two questions, “what does this scripture have to do with me, today, in my actual life and what does this scripture teach me about JesusChrist? This week we're sitting in proverbs. This book of wisdom literature that if full of phrases that have become commonplace! Even people who don’t readthe bible will know some of the proverbs! “Pride goeth before the fall”, “Spare the rod, spoil the child”, “A softanswer turns away wrath”, “As a man thinketh, so is he”. In light of our new Sunday schedule,I have decided to focus on one proverb today! I won’t be doing this every week-but maybe this will help some of you Sunday School teachers out there who are now tasked with the job of picking one, maybe two, truths and making that the focus of your Sunday discussions! The Proverb I have chosen to focus on is 31. This proverb will also be familiar to many. “Who can find avirtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.” If you've ever heard the phrase "Eshet Chayil," this is where thatcomes from. Eshet Chayil is Hebrew, andit's usually translated as "virtuous woman" or "woman of noblecharacter." But those English words don't quite carry the full weight of the original Hebrew word. Chayil is a word used elsewhere in scripturefor warriors, for strength, for capability and valor. This isn't a passage about a soft or passive ideal of womanhood — it's a description of a woman of strength. Someone capable, someone formidable, someone whose life producesreal, tangible good in the world around her. For centuries Jewish fathers have sung these very verses over their daughters, and husbands have sung them over their wives — not as a checklist to measure up to, but as a blessing. As a way of saying, "This is what I see in you." It is usually sung on Fridaynights at the start of the Shabbat or Sabbath meal. So today, we're not going to read Proverbs 31 as a to-do list that makes us feel like we are falling short. We are goingto approach these treasured words as a process of becoming. Central to this process is our Savior, Jesus Christ.In verse 21 of the proverb we read, “She is not afraid of the snow-for her household: for all her household is clothed with scarlet.” Snow here is referring to storms-and why isthis woman not afraid of the storms of life? Because her family is clothed in scarlet-in other words, her family is clothed in the blood of the lamb- the blood which points us toward the atonement of Jesus Christ. This woman derivesher strength and trust in the Savior-and that trust in Him gives her the courage to face the storms of life without fear! Now, alongside Proverbs 31, I want to bring in another verse that is one of those oh so familiar proverb sayings— Proverbs 22:6: "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." This verse can get treated almost like a formula. Do the right things as a parent, and you are guaranteed the desired outcome! But real life is messierthan that. Many of us know — maybe some of you listening today know personally— what it's like to have done your best, poured in everything you had, and still watch a child walk a different path than the one you hoped for. So today, along with looking at what it means to be a woman of valor, we're also going to sit honestly with this question: what does it mean to continue to trust this proverb when the outcome doesn't look like what we expected? How canwe read this verse without feeling the guilt that can accompany unmet expectations in parenthood? I've invited two women to join me for this conversation. They come with real perspectives, real stories, real experience, and you are going to love learning from them!
