Her Gain is Good
So often we expect more of our own selves than anyone else. I know I am that way. Perfectionism is not something I would wish on anyone and it can make our lives miserable. It puts pressure on us that is unnecessary. Especially in this “capture the perfect Instagram worthy moment” world, there is such pressure to be perfect. But no-one is perfect except God, so why do we expect ourselves to be perfect? Proverbs 31: 15 and 18 New American Standard Bible says:
15 She rises while it is still night, and gives food to her household, and portions to her maidens. 18 She senses that her gain is good; her lamp does not go out at night.
I love the phrase “she senses that her gain is good.” It is full of such SATISFACTION, which in turn is so full of peace and is so opposite to the stress of seeking perfection. Gain H5504 means profit, merchandise and comes from the root H5503 to travel around, go about, occupy with. So this woman senses or realizes that her “going about” or what she occupies herself with is GOOD. She is satisfied with what she does. What a great goal for us! To be SATISFIED with WHAT WE DO.
And, by the way, how does she get any sleep? Our verses say she gets up while it still night and her lamp does not go out at night. My college friend and I (I told you I had studied this passage a long time, I’m in my 60s, so you do the math! I love Proverbs 31!) were discussing this and figured out that the Proverbs 31 woman could go to bed after sunset and get up before sunrise and still get a good 8hours of sleep! The point is that she is RESPONSIBLE with her time.
And how about those maidens? When I was a young mom with the soup on the stove, mounds of laundry waiting to be done, the baby crying, the toddler running around getting into everything, I remember crying out to God, “Where are my maidens?! I could use a few right now!!”. I was not expecting an answer, but surprisingly, I got one… He answered, “What do you think your washing machine, dryer and dishwasher are? Those are your maidens!” So in one moment, He turned my attitude from frustration to laughter! And I began to appreciate my “maidens”.
But let’s go back to that perfectionism. Hey, let’s not do that to ourselves! Remember, our verse says,”she senses that her gain is good.” Sense in this verse H2938 means to perceive or to taste. To really taste something, we need to SAVOR it, and savoring takes time and reflection. So in order to SENSE the goodness in what we do, we need to slow down and TAKE TIME to SAVOR our lives. Yes, let’s take time to sit back, think about, and PERCEIVE that what we do really is GOOD. Let’s SENSE THAT OUR GAIN IS GOOD and it will bring us so much more PEACE in our lives.
In His Love,
Suzanne
Mom Morsels 