Proverbs 31 as a professional woman - Part 25
Dear loyal readers, I trust you’re blessed and highly favoured.
In today’s article, we will be discussing success principle nine, which says that Proverbs 31 as a professional woman “paces herself, she is able to disconnect to reconnect with herself and she’s well rested”.
Someone reading this is probably thinking: Why does this matter?
In this demanding world, it is important to regularly pause and reflect on the speed with which you are moving (in every area of your life) and to consider whether it is sustainable in the long run.
Ideally, everyone is in their own lane, running their own race, at their own pace. With this understanding, it’s easier to focus on your focus – in alignment with God’s will for your life.
Unfortunately, some people’s pace is determined by how fast others are running (so they’re always trying to catch up and keep up), others don’t care at all and there are those who obsessively try to stay ahead of the race to ensure they are always considered first in everything.
In part 5 I wrote: “Elohim – in all His power, glory, might and splendour – didn’t complete creation in one day. He paced Himself by using six days to magnificently complete creation, congratulated Himself at the end of each task by noting that it was good (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31) and, on the seventh day, He rested (Genesis 2:3).”
I’m encouraged by the above because it reveals that God understands the importance of pacing because He took six days to finish creation. God also understands the importance of disconnecting in order to reconnect with Himself because He congratulated Himself after each task by saying it was “good” and then He ended the day. We sometimes don’t disconnect from the day’s work because, at times, we take it home physically, or we maintain the connection mentally and struggle to reconnect with ourselves (and our loved ones).
God also understands the importance of rest because on the seventh day, He rested from all His work (Genesis 2:3). But sometimes we created beings overlook the fact that the Creator, who doesn’t need rest (Psalm 121:3-8), set a standard for rest from work because He wanted us to adopt a healthy balance between personal and professional commitments.
Notably, there are instances where I take a two-week break before continuing to write this column because I respect my need for rest as well.
As a recovering workaholic, life humbled me into understanding that although time is eternal, the body that I’m using is a finite resource that I need to take care of.
So, I do my best and I trust God to do the rest.
Was it easy to adopt this approach?
Not at all.
In 2021 I wrote a two-part article (both published by Namibian Sun) titled 'Mental Health in the Legal Profession' where I shared my lack of self-regulation and self-neglecting tendencies that I had adopted while operating under the misguided thinking that as long as I got the job done, I didn’t matter. I paid a heavy price for this wrong mindset, and today I do better because I know better.
Proverbs 31 as a professional woman is inspired by Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) which says that she’s “God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Meaning that these good things and good works require that God lead her and equip her to lead herself before she can lead others. Pacing herself, disconnecting to reconnect with herself and making time to rest also allow her to be in alignment with God’s will and to be in step with His pace that He has set for her race.
Shalom.
DISCLAIMER: Proverbs 31 as a Professional Woman under the theme 'Embodying and Manifesting Godly Wisdom, Success Principles and Effortless Femininity in the Workplace' is not posited on trying to read the professional woman into Proverbs 31 because this will produce an absurd result. However, I have opted to take a principles-based approach that widens the scope to be applicable to any professional woman – regardless of her age or status.
This column has previous articles titled 'A New Season', 'Seeing God’s Glory Through My Tears' as well as 'Proverbs 31 as a Professional Woman' (the introduction as well as parts 1 to 24) – all published by Namibian Sun newspaper.
I welcome your comments, inputs, queries or concerns. Kindly address them to [email protected]
In today’s article, we will be discussing success principle nine, which says that Proverbs 31 as a professional woman “paces herself, she is able to disconnect to reconnect with herself and she’s well rested”.
Someone reading this is probably thinking: Why does this matter?
In this demanding world, it is important to regularly pause and reflect on the speed with which you are moving (in every area of your life) and to consider whether it is sustainable in the long run.
Ideally, everyone is in their own lane, running their own race, at their own pace. With this understanding, it’s easier to focus on your focus – in alignment with God’s will for your life.
Unfortunately, some people’s pace is determined by how fast others are running (so they’re always trying to catch up and keep up), others don’t care at all and there are those who obsessively try to stay ahead of the race to ensure they are always considered first in everything.
In part 5 I wrote: “Elohim – in all His power, glory, might and splendour – didn’t complete creation in one day. He paced Himself by using six days to magnificently complete creation, congratulated Himself at the end of each task by noting that it was good (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31) and, on the seventh day, He rested (Genesis 2:3).”
I’m encouraged by the above because it reveals that God understands the importance of pacing because He took six days to finish creation. God also understands the importance of disconnecting in order to reconnect with Himself because He congratulated Himself after each task by saying it was “good” and then He ended the day. We sometimes don’t disconnect from the day’s work because, at times, we take it home physically, or we maintain the connection mentally and struggle to reconnect with ourselves (and our loved ones).
God also understands the importance of rest because on the seventh day, He rested from all His work (Genesis 2:3). But sometimes we created beings overlook the fact that the Creator, who doesn’t need rest (Psalm 121:3-8), set a standard for rest from work because He wanted us to adopt a healthy balance between personal and professional commitments.
Notably, there are instances where I take a two-week break before continuing to write this column because I respect my need for rest as well.
As a recovering workaholic, life humbled me into understanding that although time is eternal, the body that I’m using is a finite resource that I need to take care of.
So, I do my best and I trust God to do the rest.
Was it easy to adopt this approach?
Not at all.
In 2021 I wrote a two-part article (both published by Namibian Sun) titled 'Mental Health in the Legal Profession' where I shared my lack of self-regulation and self-neglecting tendencies that I had adopted while operating under the misguided thinking that as long as I got the job done, I didn’t matter. I paid a heavy price for this wrong mindset, and today I do better because I know better.
Proverbs 31 as a professional woman is inspired by Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) which says that she’s “God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Meaning that these good things and good works require that God lead her and equip her to lead herself before she can lead others. Pacing herself, disconnecting to reconnect with herself and making time to rest also allow her to be in alignment with God’s will and to be in step with His pace that He has set for her race.
Shalom.
DISCLAIMER: Proverbs 31 as a Professional Woman under the theme 'Embodying and Manifesting Godly Wisdom, Success Principles and Effortless Femininity in the Workplace' is not posited on trying to read the professional woman into Proverbs 31 because this will produce an absurd result. However, I have opted to take a principles-based approach that widens the scope to be applicable to any professional woman – regardless of her age or status.
This column has previous articles titled 'A New Season', 'Seeing God’s Glory Through My Tears' as well as 'Proverbs 31 as a Professional Woman' (the introduction as well as parts 1 to 24) – all published by Namibian Sun newspaper.
I welcome your comments, inputs, queries or concerns. Kindly address them to [email protected]
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