In the past episode, we discussed redeeming our time for God’s Glory. Next we are going to dive into developing good morning and evening routines. But before we do, I want to pause and take a little look at the Proverbs 31 woman and something she can teach us about using our time well. And don’t worry, I’m not going to leave you with a massive to do list that includes learning how to make your own clothes or grow a giant vineyard.

Listen to the Podcast:

You can find all the links and notes for this episode below!

And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

We are celebrating this month because my brand new book: She Laughs Without Fear: Wise & Joyful Living with the Proverbs 31 Woman launches this week. Preorders for the physical copy of the book already closed, but keep an eye out for future bookstore openings when we may offer it for print again. In the mean time, you can get the eBook and Audiobook version in our digital store. You’ll get access to both versions! eBook launches Wednesday and audiobook is coming Friday! Order here.

“What we are going to see throughout this book is a woman who is filled with joy. A woman who laughs, works hard unto the Lord, and personifies wisdom. All of this leads to a rich, full, and joyful life.

And the heart of all of this is not how much she does, or what she accomplishes. It’s not about her worth, or her output, or her social media account where people can follow how beautiful and perfect her home is.

The heart of it all is her relationship with God. We will see things we do want to emulate from the Proverbs 31 woman. We might be convicted and see places we can work harder. We might even start a little to do list of things to work on after reading this book. But all of it will be under the umbrella of knowing God more and serving Him with joy.” – Introduction from my new book

There are two parts of Proverbs 31 that are very relevant to our discussion today. The question is, how do we use our time well? The heading to the Proverbs 31 passage is titled “The Woman Who Fears the Lord” and then the chapter is concluded with these final 2 verses: “Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” We also see up in verses 25,  “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.”

So how do we learn from this wise woman? In my book, we go into the concept of wisdom, what it is and how we can attain it. And then verse by verse we go through the final chapter of the book of Proverbs to see what the real lessons are there in it. But today I want to just look at these few verses.

We are on a journey with these 25 foundational episodes to discover how to use our time well in the pursuit of finding joy in our home. And so many of us are plagued by stress and anxiety in our homes. Not a lot of extra room for joy or peace when you are plagued by anxiety. But we see that the wise woman of Proverbs laughs without fear of the future. How could this possible be? How can she be so secure in the Lord that she takes delight in what is to come? This speaks of a woman who has found joy and purpose in her day.

Well we see the entire reason for it in verse 30, “but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” What does that fear of the Lord possible mean?

The point of the book of Proverbs is to help us understand what God considers wise and righteous living. It helps us take the Law and apply it to daily life. Through the book of Proverbs, we see some powerful glimpses into the heart of God, and it helps us to learn His character more.

One such powerful lesson is earlier in the book:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”  – Proverbs 9:10

he book of Proverbs is all about this concept – the wise person versus the fool. This extends to the final chapter and the woman we are focusing on in this book.

The Proverbs 31 woman is our example of wisdom. What does it mean to live a godly life as a Christian woman? We get into the larger discussion in the book. But for our purposes today, we see the Proverbs 31 woman working diligently unto the Lord. We see her being self-disciplined and hard at work caring for her family and reaching her hand out to the needy. We see a selfless live wived in fear of the Lord. 

In short, we see true wisdom in her life. If we want to find joy in our homes, this is where we must FIRST start. We have to start with this concept of where we find true wisdom. As Christians, this starts first and foremost with making God the true #1 center of our lives. All too often we say that he is our first priority, but where we spend our time and money shows very different priorities.

As we consider how we can form better morning routines, evening routines, and use our time well: this is our and biggest task: Walking in Wisdom. Deferring our lives to Christ. Laying down our lives in service of His and walking in Wisdom. I want to be a wise woman. I want to be someone that has godly character and makes wise choices before the Lord. And most of the time, this isn’t in big grand gestures or decisions, but rather in the small everyday moments of life.

Next week we are going to jump into how a solid morning routine can help us achieve this, one little baby step at a time!

Links & Resources:

• Our Sponsor: Go to GreenChef.com/homemaking100 and use code: homemaking100 to bet $100 off including free shipping!
• Our Sponsor: Give your child the confidence that reading brings with Hooked On Phonics. Visit HookedOnPhonics.com/HOME, and receive your first month for just one dollar.
• Preorder my new book!