Shifting Perspective

The son steps up to speak at the dear one's funeral.  His choice of scripture fills me with dread.  Oh I have read it...and picked it apart.  I have thrown my hands up and said, "There is no way!"  I have yearned to be that scripture and longed to be the woman found there. 

There at the end of the 31st chapter of Proverbs you will find her.  And if you notice you can even make a list of things to do and be in order to be like her.  It can't be that hard right if you can list it?
Work with willing hands, check....bring food, check...get up very early...buy land...plant things...stay strong...reach out to the poor, check...chec....che....  I'm exhausted just typing about it.  This woman must have super powers.

For the first time a phrase sticks out to me...something that never has before.

She makes her own bed coverings, her clothing is fine linen and purple.--Prov. 31: 22

Fine linen and purple are the fabric and color of royalty.  This woman is a queen.  Really?  Not my idea of a queen to be honest.  I picture a queen just sitting around in beautiful clothes, hair done by someone, food brought to her, never wanting for anything.  The Proverbs 31 lady doesn't fit this profile...at all! 

The preacher stands and reads a few things from the dear one's Bible and my perspective begins to shift.

I cannot do anything to make God love me more.--Bunny's Bible

The Proverbs 31 woman understood this.  It is the reason for her royal clothes.  She was a queen through and through not because of what she did but because of whose she was.  I want to shout...it's not a list!  Not a list!

No, this is love.  The love of a King clothes us in linen and purple.  And we are royal because He is.  This is the super power of the woman found at the end of the wise sayings. I read the words again and something in me shifts. The things she does, her wisdom and strength are expressions of her love for Him.  An overflow of who she is in Him. 

This woman is not perfect, nor am I.  No one wrote of the things she messed up.  Why do I focus on those things I mess up?  Could it be that who I am in Him is all that is needed to write such words about me?  My head shakes with the impossibility.  It is too crazy to believe.  Still, I want to...believe it...even live it.

The first thing we must do to live enough is to embrace the reality of who we are in Jesus. My friend Bunny understood it and she oozed love from every pore. She touched my life and the lives of others in a way that lives on today.

So, I'm challenging myself today... maybe you could join me. Let's take a look at the expressions of His love overflowing from us this week. Let's make a list just like the one found in Proverbs 31. You won't find me holding a distaff. I'm not even sure what that is! I'm not planting a literal vineyard this week either. But, I did make shakes for the middle one's breakfast... and slice apples for snacks. I put the kitchen in order and threw some clothes on to wash. I even cooked duck this weekend... more to come on that one.

Being a daughter of the King is not about some unattainable list, but the little things we do each day to share our love for Him and others.

So go ahead... I dare you. Start making your list. Would you consider sharing some of those things you put on your list this week? If so just click in the comments box below. I'd love to hear from you.