I love flowers. They are beautiful. They smell fantastic. They make everything else around them more appealing. So, I plant all kinds and take care of them all season long. But no matter how much I care of them and how gorgeous they become eventually their beauty fades and they die.
Being a woman is similar to being a flower and a flower gardener. We are both the flower and the gardener of our flower. Women work so hard to be beautiful. The hair. The make up. The nutrition. The clothes. The workouts. The spas and facials. The nails. The jewelry. The perfume. We work hard to maintain our beauty. It’s important to us to feel beautiful, to be beautiful, and for others to appreciate our beauty. All women work hard at something we believe makes us beautiful. But just like flowers, our physical beauty fades no matter how hard we work. We age and get older so as that happens we work even harder to keep it. And for many it isn’t really about vanity, it is just that woman often associate part of our identity and individual value with our beauty. So, we work hard to hold on to it.
But Solomon tells us no matter how beautiful and charming a woman is – it fades. It is deceitful because we think we can hold on to it. We make it such a central part of our personal identity. And, our beauty can often mask our personality flaws – at least for a little while. But Solomon warns women. Our beauty and charm fade. Don’t put your trust and effort into creating an outwardly gorgeous and charming woman because no matter how hard you work – it will fade.
Instead, Solomon tells women to fear and respect the Lord. Our fear of the Lord is wear our praise will be found. It will never fade. It is not deceitful. It has outward and inward beauty. It has eternal ramifications.
Proverbs 31 is often a place people go to talk about being a godly wife and mother since the woman in the proverb is both a wife and a mother. But, really the Proverb isn’t meant to be that restrictive. Not all women marry. Not all can have children. If the proverb was just for married women, it would not be as instructive. Instead, we should read it as a description of a godly woman who happens to also be a wife and a mother.
This woman works hard for her family and in her job for God. She is self sacrificing for God. She is generous for God. She improves the lives of others for God. Her life isn’t about her beauty and charm or even her role. Her life is about serving God in whatever situation she finds herself. And ultimately, even this woman’s beauty faded but her fear and obedience to the Lord is what brought her praise – in this life and the next.
Society (and the internal voice in women’s head) pushes us to focus on the outward appearance and the outward social standing we achieve. We want to be beauty and we want to be charming and well liked. But Solomon tells us those things are not going to last. If we want to truly be praised, we must focus on our spiritual beauty.
Don’t waste too much of your energy on your outward beauty. Instead, become the gardener of your spiritual beauty. It is the flower that’s beauty never fades.
Adonai's Appeal 