Continuing with our Proverbs 31 series, last week’s verses were Proverbs 31:15-16. My original post was too long, so I have done verse 15 today and will post verse 16 tomorrow.
Verse 15 – She gets up before daylight to prepare food for her family and to tell her servant women what to do.
Getting up early allows for time in the Word, time for yourself and time to plan and prepare for the day ahead. Even Jesus did it (Mark 1:35), which shows you how important it is. Sometimes my baby will wake up at 4am and not go back to sleep for a while. After she finally goes back to sleep, since I am already up, if I am not too tired, I will try to make the most of the early morning. In addition, depending on the day, I might be able to prep for dinner or do a load of laundry as well. The great thing about early morning starts is that I manage to achieve a lot before the day officially begins and by planning the day ahead, it allows me to focus my time on the important things I need do.
Obviously rising early depends on your season of life, it might not be practical with a newborn baby for example and what I describe above doesn’t always happen, but I know as she gets older, I will look to instil a regular early morning routine for myself.
The second part of the verse talks about servant girls, now I don’t have any servant girls but I could liken what a servant girl would do to all the modern day conveniences that I currently have. Courtney suggests things like your washing machine, dishwasher, tumble dryer etc. The Proverbs 31 woman has a plan before the day begins. She is aware of the needs of the household, and is organised in addressing them. So if laundry needs to be done today, it gests done.
As a planner she does not do this on her own, but she plans with the Lord as her consult. She does not go off and do things but rather, she prayerfully considers the things she wants to achieve and asks God to bless her plans. Other parts of Proverbs reinforce the importance of this:
“Ask the Lord to bless your plans and you will be successful in carrying them out” – Proverbs 16:3
“Plan carefully and you will have plenty, if you act too quickly you will never have enough – Proverbs 21:5
How many times have you just started your day without any consideration of the things that need to be achieved or entered into a new venture and realised that you jumped in head first without considering everything properly. Even worse you didn’t ask God for his input. I know I have and while it doesn’t mean your venture will outright fail or your day will be poor, you open yourself up to potential challenges or misfortune. God is our loving Father who wants to be part of everything we are doing, even the daily stuff.
By bringing our plans to God He is able to open our eyes to any things which we may not have thought about and order our steps. He might even tell you not to go ahead! Planning is not something to be rushed and takes careful consideration. As the old saying goes – failure to plan is planning to fail.
Are you committing your plans to God?
Other Posts in the Proverbs 31 Series
Proverbs 31: The Contemporary English Version
Proverbs 31 - A Woman That Fears The Lord
Proverbs 31:12-14 - Doing Him Good And Having the Right Attitude
There is nothing like waking up early to start your day and bringing God into the plans of the day is equally important.
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GREAT post!!! I've tried this and it works though I’m guilty of slacking some/many mornings!! Also spending time with God before bed allows me to wake up in the mornings with Him on my mind and looking forward to starting my day with Him and knowing that He's leading the way!!
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