Proverbs 31 as a professional woman - Part 22
Opinion
Dear loyal readers, I trust you’re blessed and highly favoured.
After a two-week break, it is my distinct pleasure to continue writing this transformational series on Proverbs 31 as a professional woman.
So far, we have discussed seven success principles and we have 13 more to go before we conclude the series with effortless femininity in the workplace.
Today, we will look at success principle eight, which says that the Proverbs 31 professional woman “doesn’t do it all on her own”. What do I mean by this?
In part five, we unpacked success principle four, which says “she is intentionally present in everything she does”. In that article, I shared the following: “When I first read Proverbs 31:10-31, I couldn’t relate to or measure up to her. Perfectionism combined with social conditioning made me think that the Proverbs 31 woman was exhaustingly 'too much' and I also suspected that she was probably trying to be everything to everyone. At the time, I was busy pouring into everyone else’s cup except my own and I felt overwhelmed, insecure and frustrated whenever I read Proverbs 31:10-31”.
In part five, I also shared that in time, I understood that “although she has various roles and undertakes multiple tasks, she uses wisdom to guide her on how to be present with the Lord, both for herself and for everyone else in different times and seasons”.
Meaning: She is not everything to everyone at once, nor does she try to do it all at once or in one day.
I used to have a bad habit of trying to do everything in one day and trying to apply the strength of the Lord Jesus (Philippians 4:13) to my self-created chaos. (Please read part five for further context on how I overcame this.)
Building on the above, I wish to unpack today’s success principle eight with reference to Proverbs 31:15 (AMP), which says that “she rises also while it is still night and gives food to her household and assigns tasks to her maids”.
For so many years, I had the misguided notion that the Proverbs 31 woman had no understanding of teamwork and that she was doing everything on her own. But the above translation broadened my understanding that brilliant people need help too. She doesn’t do it all on her own.
Where did she learn about the essence of teamwork? The answer is in Genesis.
In part five, I wrote: “The Trinity of God – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – all worked together to create the Heavens, Earth and everything in it (Genesis 1:1-2, 26; Job 26:13 [KJV, NLT]; Proverbs 8:22-31 [the Holy Spirit is also called the Spirit of Wisdom; see Isaiah 11:2]; John 1:1-4 and Colossians 1:15-17)”.
See John 1:10-11 and Hebrews 1:2 and verse 10 for Jesus Christ’s role in creation also.
In part 13, we discussed success principle six, which talks about servant leadership and in that article, I briefly touched on the fact that “even Jesus Christ, who came to earth as God in human form (John 14:9-11, Colossians 2:9, Philippians 2:6-7), gave up His divine privileges (Philippians 2:8) and didn’t do everything on His own. He had 12 disciples whom He trained and equipped to help Him with His earthly ministry and to continue the work when He went to Heaven”.
Meaning that Jesus Christ understood the importance of teamwork, delegation of tasks and the impact of transformation and empowerment as part of the responsibilities of a servant leader towards those under Him.
The brilliance and success of the Proverbs 31 professional woman is built on many facets, including the desire to work with others so that collective efforts will lead to collective success - to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
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, which 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 20) – all published by Namibian Sun.
I welcome your comments, input, queries or concerns. Kindly address them to [email protected].
After a two-week break, it is my distinct pleasure to continue writing this transformational series on Proverbs 31 as a professional woman.
So far, we have discussed seven success principles and we have 13 more to go before we conclude the series with effortless femininity in the workplace.
Today, we will look at success principle eight, which says that the Proverbs 31 professional woman “doesn’t do it all on her own”. What do I mean by this?
In part five, we unpacked success principle four, which says “she is intentionally present in everything she does”. In that article, I shared the following: “When I first read Proverbs 31:10-31, I couldn’t relate to or measure up to her. Perfectionism combined with social conditioning made me think that the Proverbs 31 woman was exhaustingly 'too much' and I also suspected that she was probably trying to be everything to everyone. At the time, I was busy pouring into everyone else’s cup except my own and I felt overwhelmed, insecure and frustrated whenever I read Proverbs 31:10-31”.
In part five, I also shared that in time, I understood that “although she has various roles and undertakes multiple tasks, she uses wisdom to guide her on how to be present with the Lord, both for herself and for everyone else in different times and seasons”.
Meaning: She is not everything to everyone at once, nor does she try to do it all at once or in one day.
I used to have a bad habit of trying to do everything in one day and trying to apply the strength of the Lord Jesus (Philippians 4:13) to my self-created chaos. (Please read part five for further context on how I overcame this.)
Building on the above, I wish to unpack today’s success principle eight with reference to Proverbs 31:15 (AMP), which says that “she rises also while it is still night and gives food to her household and assigns tasks to her maids”.
For so many years, I had the misguided notion that the Proverbs 31 woman had no understanding of teamwork and that she was doing everything on her own. But the above translation broadened my understanding that brilliant people need help too. She doesn’t do it all on her own.
Where did she learn about the essence of teamwork? The answer is in Genesis.
In part five, I wrote: “The Trinity of God – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – all worked together to create the Heavens, Earth and everything in it (Genesis 1:1-2, 26; Job 26:13 [KJV, NLT]; Proverbs 8:22-31 [the Holy Spirit is also called the Spirit of Wisdom; see Isaiah 11:2]; John 1:1-4 and Colossians 1:15-17)”.
See John 1:10-11 and Hebrews 1:2 and verse 10 for Jesus Christ’s role in creation also.
In part 13, we discussed success principle six, which talks about servant leadership and in that article, I briefly touched on the fact that “even Jesus Christ, who came to earth as God in human form (John 14:9-11, Colossians 2:9, Philippians 2:6-7), gave up His divine privileges (Philippians 2:8) and didn’t do everything on His own. He had 12 disciples whom He trained and equipped to help Him with His earthly ministry and to continue the work when He went to Heaven”.
Meaning that Jesus Christ understood the importance of teamwork, delegation of tasks and the impact of transformation and empowerment as part of the responsibilities of a servant leader towards those under Him.
The brilliance and success of the Proverbs 31 professional woman is built on many facets, including the desire to work with others so that collective efforts will lead to collective success - to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
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, which 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 20) – all published by Namibian Sun.
I welcome your comments, input, queries or concerns. Kindly address them to [email protected].
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article