Momma's Got a New Outfit!!

Proverbs 31:25

Last fall, one of the blogs I follow gave a link to the pretty print of Proverbs 31:25:

 Strength and dignity are her clothing

 and she laughs at the time to come.

I put it on my bathroom wall, so that I could see it as I was getting ready in the morning. I have been pondering it ever since.

That last part intrigued me. I wasn't sure that I would ever 'laugh' at the future, but I at least wanted to anticipate the future with out anxiety or fear. It occurred to me that to laugh at the future, I must be clothed in strength and dignity according to this scripture. 

So....

         Where do I get there garments and how do I put them on?

Like any good bible scholar, I looked at what I thought were the three critical works -

clothing,     strength,     and    dignity.

I was sorely disappointed.   In the original Hebrew, those words meant exactly what you would think they meant – no earth shattering revelations at all. Then my eye caught something. Dignity was the masculine form of the word in the original Hebrew. And so was strength – and clothing. Huh? This is the portion of scripture about the virtuous woman – not about a man.

Intrigued, I looked at Proverbs 31:17:

She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong.

That word dresses can also be translated girds – as in girding armor. And "strength" is that same masculine form.

All of the sudden, it occurred to me – the virtuous woman is not clothed in her strength and dignity – but HIS!!

She can laugh at the future because she is HIS, and HE is her strength and dignity.

So, now I am back to how I get these awesome clothes...

Maybe this is simplistic, but I realized that before I put on a new outfit, I have to take off the old. And more importantly – after I take off the old clothes, and put on the new, I must make sure not to put those old dirty rags over my pretty new clothes.  You know the ones -

                                  worry, what-if's, insecurity, doubt,  selfishness

Oh, how many times have I done that??

But, I don't just want to know that I have these clothes on - I want to feel them! Don't you just love the feel of certain fabrics? Some make me feel cozy, other feminine. I feel very confident in some outfits – and uncomfortable in others.

Just maybe – accepting Christ's love for me – that simple truth -  is what will give me the confidence to walk in strength and dignity

– and maybe even laugh at the future!!