Do you believe you are strong and courageous?
She laid on the examining table as the technician performed the ultrasound. As the scan continued, she could clearly see the screen. Was she supposed to see the screen? She didn’t know how to read it, but this didn’t look right to her. Fear started to creep into the edges of her mind.
The technician left the room and assured her the radiologist would quickly read the scan. As she waited the fear encroached not only into her mind but also her heart. She felt her pulse increase with each passing moment. She prayed, she reassured herself Jesus was there. With each rapid heartbeat she declared her trust. Her body became a wrestling match between faith and fear.
On the edge of the unknown, we have all felt this feeling. Courage looks different on different people. Women of strength have gone before us, and we are raising them to follow us. We all have the same source to walk us through the season of uncertainty no matter the circumstances.
Looking at the Proverbs 31 woman, we see this description here as well. She wears strength (Proverbs 31:17). I love the picture that the King James Version paints, “she girds her loins with strength.” She literally straps on vigor as if it were a piece of clothing. It implies choice, a choice we share with this exemplary woman. It is time to gird up my friend or to quote a common vernacular put on our big girl pants. Take action today, to live life this way and strengthen our bodies, minds, and spirits.
Proverbs 31 uses two different Hebrew words for strength. ‘Amats, also used in Joshua 1:9, means to be strong, alert, courageous, brave, stout, bold, solid, hard (according to Strong’s concordance). It implies physical strength. The other word, ‘Oz brings a broader definition covering might and strength either material or physical and including personal or social or political power. It implies community position, as we see throughout the Proverbs 31 narrative.
This same word ‘Oz, is used in Isaiah 52:1. Isaiah encourages the captured people to put on strength and beauty. Choose to live up as God intended. Like the Israelites we need to remember that our strength comes from God. He will deliver on that promise.
Keep in mind, we are not commanded to be the Proverbs 31 woman. However, she does give us a reachable reflection of who we can be in Christ. We work to be Christlike, and He produces strength and courage in us. In seasons of uncertainty, we can possess this strength and courage to move forward in all the future holds.
