Godly Woman Part 2: Eager to Serve

She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.

She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still night;
she provides food for her family and portions for her female servants.

~ Proverbs 31:13-15

Lately, I've been have a hard time getting up early in the morning (so many apologies for the interlude in postings!). I always have all of these great plans for my morning - spending some time with the Lord, working out, getting to work early - but often when 6 a.m. rolls around, all I want to do is press snooze (ask Miss Rach - I am queen of the snooze button!). It's even harder to do when the day doesn't look so exciting - a job you're not so stoked about, lots of things to learn that you're not particularly interested in, or just nothing especially gripping going on. It's easy to excuse my morning complaining - I'm not a morning person, it's early, and who on earth is cheery in the morning?

I love how the Proverbs portrait of a godly woman challenges me to be something different. Not only does this gal get up early, but she's eager to do it, and she sets her hands to doing things that benefit others. I think these are two really big challenges for us as we're trying to pursue being godly women!

Working Eagerly: When I'm at work, I can't help but think that looking up research articles on pubmed doesn't exactly further God's purpose, yet the Lord still says in Colossians 3:23:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, and not for men.

One of the ways a godly woman sets herself apart is that she sees all things she does as a way to serve the Lord, instead of as just her daily tasks that she's assigned to do. I don't know about you, but it certainly makes me a little bit more excited to do things when I realize that by doing them with my whole heart, I am glorifying the Creator of the Universe!

Working Selflessly: Honestly, this is what I'm most impressed about with this woman - she wakes up early to provide food for both her family who she loves and for her servant girls, who technically should be responsible for making her comfortable. I don't know about you, but most days when I first wake up the first thing on my mind is me. What do I need to do today? What do I want to be happy? This woman has such a servant's heart that she hops straight out of bed with her heart set on loving and serving others. What a challenge and a role model!

My challenge for all of us is to give God at least a few minutes first thing when we wake up each morning to focus on Him, asking Him to transform us into an eager, selfless Proverbs 31 women!