Godly Woman Part 3: An Open Hand

She considers a field and buys it;
Out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
She sees that her trading is profitable,
In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
~ Proverbs 31:16-29

It's a very fine line between thinking ahead and being a bit of a control freak. I've always been one who likes to have my day planned out - whether in one of those cute little planners or now online via google calendar. There were definitely times in college when I would even go as far as to map out my day in an almost hour by hour basis! Now, I'm not knocking planning, but I certainly think there are some healthy limits to it. I remember realizing during one of my more stressful times that I had become so rigid with my schedule that I didn't want to move the time I'd planned for dinner by an hour or so because it wasn't the exact time that I'd scheduled - certainly not good!

The reason why I bring all of this up is because one of the things I LOVE about the Proverbs 31 woman is that she seems to strike the perfect balance:

She plans and works: I love the image of her considering a field and assessing what's profitable - what a great role model for a smart and godly woman

AND

She does not worry about the future:

When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
~Proverbs 31:21

One way I've heard to describe this sort of attitude that I really like is holding your plans with an open hand before the Lord. This sort of attitude allows for the perfect melding of trusting in the Lord's plans with the eager servant heart that we talked about yesterday - talk about awesome! Practically, this takes a lot of prayer - prayer to be in tune with the Lord's will, prayer to submit to the Lord's will, and prayer to work eagerly to achieve the Lord's will. My challenge/prayer for the day is that each of us would take some time to pick out something about our future that we're not holding with an open hand before the Lord and surrender it to Him.

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow with worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
~Matthew 6:33-34