Praying for eager hands...

A few years ago whilst praying about the changes God needed to make in my homemaker heart I re-studied Proverbs 31 and it was quite humbling when He revealed things in my character, good and bad, to encourage but also correct.

I spent the next twelve months adjusting my attitude and walking even closer with God, and at the end of that season I saw fruit come to bear in my marriage, family relationships and home.

Recently I decided to start over in Proverbs 31 with fresh eyes and a prayer to go deeper, so that I may continue to grow in this God-given role which I cherish. After all, I see homemaking as a calling, a gift, a role in life to be grateful for, and I don’t want to become complacent about it.

The verse I’ve chosen to focus on today is Proverbs 31:13, which gives a very clear description of an attitude we need to take on in our day to day roles of homemakers, wives and mothers…

“She selects wool and flax, and

works with eager hands.”

The Hebrew meaning of ‘eager’ is chephets which means pleasant, purposeful, willing, eager and delight, so let’s have a look at this verse in the fullness of its meaning –

She selects wool and flax, and

works with pleasant, purposeful, willing, eager and delightful hands.

Isn’t that beautiful!

Do I work with eager hands in the home?

Much of the time yes, but not all the time.

Do my hands approach their tasks eagerly, pleasantly, with purpose, willingness and delight?

They do much of the time, especially when it’s a task I enjoy or will derive pleasure from later…but not so for the tasks I find regularly distasteful or repetitive.

(mopping the floor and scrubbing the shower springs to mind)

As I reflect on where my homemaker heart was a few years back and the changes made since, there have been many blessed improvements in my character, however, there are still some attitudes not quite overcome, not yet truly embraced in the way I’d hoped.

You see there’s still some of Jenny to weed out and Jesus to be planted instead, so going back over this section in Proverbs, as well as other passages which teach about being a wife and homemaker, I have opportunity to reassess my day to day life, the attitudes and responsibilities which are mine alone, and make righteous adjustments so that my character shines more in the likeness of Christ as time goes by.

It is in His likeness we are called to be, not the likeness of a complaining woman who finds no value in being mistress of her home. It is His character of generosity, kindness, peace, love and compassion (and sometimes sacrifice) that we are compelled to imitate.

The more I age, the more years pass, the more I understand there is a need to keep going back over the lessons in God’s Word that I have been led to study in the past so I can do a ‘check and balance’ to be sure I haven’t slipped away from, or forgotten about, the things I once understood.

Your dear hands may be working eagerly with purposeful delight, but if perhaps they are not, you may like to join me today in praying for a change of heart and a refreshed spirit so we can offer the gift of our hands in joyful service once again.

Look on this as planting a harvest that will be a joy to reap in due season.

Your sister in Christ,