Proverbs 14:1 AMP, "Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands."
Ladies, have you ever noticed just how much power God's actually entrusted to us?
That may sound like an odd question, but there is something I've noticed as I've observed the women I encounter every day. Moms have a great affect on their children, and wives have a great affect on their husbands. Women don't even have to say anything verbally to speak volumes. All my mom has to do is give me "the look" and I know exactly what that means. She doesn't have to say a word. I know!
Being able to make such an affect is something I believe can be used to do great things for the Kingdom of God. Just like I know my mom's look that implies I need to stop whatever I'm doing that is wrong, I also am greatly affected just by the encouragement I receive from my mom. She is one of the people who knows me best, and to hear her compliment me can push me to spread my wings and fly because she knows my successes, but she also knows my failures and still believes in me.
That's a lot of power.
It's a blessing to have such an impact, but I'm also realizing just how big of a responsibility it is to be a woman who can change the course of her whole household with the choices I make. When I think that I can have such an affect to build up my house or to tear it down with my own hands, I'm a little overwhelmed. I'd like to say that I make wise choices always and live out being the Proverbs 31 woman every day I live, but that's just not so. I'm still hoping to be more like that woman someday, but let me just share a bit of my not so lovely choices with you today.
I'd found myself in an emotionally upset state. All I could see was sad and gloomy. It was quite depressing to say the least. I spent about two weeks wallowing in self-pity thinking I was so justified in how I felt. Surely, I wasn't the one in the wrong. I'd thought about what I was upset about over and over again for what felt like forever, and I had a pretty decent case in my mind about just how justified I really was. It felt logical... to me. In my mind, I had every right to be upset.
However, when I opened my Bible up a few days ago, I ran across Proverbs 14:1, and boy did I ever get convicted by God that I had a bad attitude and I was in fact the one with the problem.
I read, "Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands."
In that moment, I realized that I had stopped building my house, and I had begun being the foolish woman who was tearing it down with my own hands.
May I say, "Ouch!"
How could I go from building up my house to tearing it down in such a short time?
As I thought about what caused me to reach such a pitiful state that I was throwing my own pity party, what came to mind was that I stopped being grateful for all of my blessings, and then I was being discontent. No matter how many things I had to be grateful for, I focused solely on what I wasn't getting that I wanted and even convinced myself I needed.
I thought I had conquered the giant monster called discontentment, but sometimes it still rears its ugly head up, and I realize that I still have yet to be fully content. Philippians 4:12-13 AMP says, "I know how to be abased and live humbly in straitened circumstances, and I know also how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance. I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and enough to spare or going without and being in want. I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency]."
That's the woman I want to be. I desire to be able to say with Paul that I've learned how to be content in every circumstance. I love that the secret lies in being able to do all things through Christ Who strengthens us. I can't be content in my own will power. I need Christ to come and work in my heart. Thankfully I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.
Proverbs 14:1 doesn't cause me to want to go on a power trip and try to get everyone to follow my lead. It actually does the opposite. It humbles me. I know the hurt I caused in the two weeks that I had an ungrateful and discontent attitude. I watched how my actions tore down rather than built up. With me recognizing that, I see that the more power God entrusts to me, the more I desire to lean on Him. Something God once laid on Joyce Meyers heart was a powerful statement that went something like this: "As many people as you can help is exactly how many people you can hurt." That's terrifying to me! It causes me to realize my deep need for God and the importance of Him living through my life.
So, how are you affecting the building of your house?
Are you building it up, or are you tearing it down with your own hands?
Dear Heavenly Father,
As I read Proverbs 14:1, I was convicted about the attitude I'd had lately. You really challenged me with that verse to make me see how I was tearing down my house rather than building it up. I pray You'll forgive me and help me build up my house from this day on. Let me see things through Your eyes and use the power You've given me to lift others up rather than tearing them down. Help me be content no matter my circumstances. In Jesus' Name.
Amen.
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