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“For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).The 31st chapter of the Bible’s Book of Proverbs describes a woman of noble character who is intelligent, strong, trustworthy, & diligently active toward the concerns of the family. The end of the chapter tells us the key to her praiseworthiness: rather than putting her trust in charm & beauty, this woman fears the Lord (v. 30).
Soon I am to marry such a Proverbs 31 woman! To be sure, she is far from perfect, & she herself frankly knows the many ways her mistakes have hurt others. All the same, she is uniquely capable, steadfast, loyal, & industrious in the care of her family. (Jadon’s health & well-being are a testament to his mother’s love for him.) Most importantly, this woman fears the Lord, & seeks to honor & wholly trust the One who lived & died for her.
I have heard the slogan, “If you want to find a Proverbs 31 woman, you have to be a Proverbs 1-30 man.” I recently started to read through the Book of Proverbs again, & quite quickly I was reminded that I am no such wise man, but rather a fool – just a selfish, impatient kid who constantly needs God’s loving discipline (3:11, 12). I have realized how my own rebelliousness too has often hurt many, especially those I am called to love most deeply.
God’s mercy & kindness have been so amazing to me as I think on how He has brought about what not long ago seemed utterly impossible. To say that He in the last few months “orchestrated” the reconciliation of Jadon’s mother & me (first to Himself & then to each other) describes the process well: from amidst a cacophony of confusion & pain came forth a beautiful melody, one made more beautiful by the otherwise stray tones reined into harmony with the Composer’s heart. It was God’s kindness which captivated Jadon’s mother into loving submission & transformed her into the Proverbs 31 woman that she is. It was God’s kindness which brought her to me when I least expected or deserved it. And it was God’s kindness which melted my heart to reconsider her whom I’d mournfully written off as incapable of change. God’s faithfulness to me endured even in spite of my own faithlessness.
Over the past several years, I have read the words of Pastor C. J. Mahaney many times: “Your greatest need is not a spouse. Your greatest need is to be delivered from the wrath of God – and that has already been accomplished for you through the death and resurrection of Christ. So why doubt that God will provide a much, much lesser need? Trust His sovereignty, trust His wisdom, trust His love.” Indeed, in His lavish love, God has been faithful to accomplish my greatest need already. Indeed, His sovereignty, wisdom, & love are unquestionably trustworthy. And in this very same sovereignty, wisdom, & love, He has chosen to provide now for my lesser need for a wife, & has done so again with the same reckless lavishness I don’t deserve: not only is she a Proverbs 31 woman, but to me she is charming & beautiful as well!
To think now that God has helped Jadon’s mother & me to this joyful, free, & genuine decision for union in marriage, to think that I will soon be holding her as my bride (MY BRIDE!!!), and to think that we will finally be giving our son the whole family we’d secretly hoped for from the very beginning, is truly, truly unfathomable.
How GREAT is our God!
“A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies... A woman who fears the LORD is to be praised” (Proverbs 31:10, 30).
