Proverbs 31:14 discusses the similarities between a Godly woman and a merchant ship. At first, I was terrified because I had no idea where to go with this. Then I just happened to come across an article that broke this comparison down and made much more sense. It was written up by Dr. Fred John Meldau in Christian Victory Magazine.
(First of all, I thought we might need some information on ships before beginning the comparison. These are some things that I found during my studies on ships in the OT.) Merchant ships weren't used often in the Old Testament. Really, the period of time that used boats the most were during the reign of Solomon. The New Testament has many more mentions of ships - especially during Paul's ministry. A ship "pilot" is not just a captain, but one who guides through dangerous or congested waters. They were expert navigators with detailed knowledge of local waterways. Merchant ships would only set sail a few times a year in order to gain the best deals on merchandise from other cities. They would prepare for extremely long journeys at sea, bringing food that wouldn't spoil easy and being prepared for the weather.) When they would bring the items back home, they took extra caution because the journey was so long, and they wanted to bring it back unharmed. They were always ready for whatever would come upon them at sea whether it was a storm, sickness, etc. When the merchant ships unloaded, they delivered all of their goods. It's almost like when you go to Sams or Costco - you don't do it often, and many times when you go you have things to bring back for everyone else too. Their job was to go get the items for others and bring them back safely.)
1. Merchant ships must have a pilot - A true Christian woman must have Jesus as the pilot of her heart and home 2. Merchant ships are guided by a compass and the North Star - A true Christian woman guides her home by the Word of God. (2 Timothy 3:16) 3. Merchant ships carry precious cargo - True women of Christ transfer the blessings of heaven to the lives around them. 4. Merchant ships endure storms at sea - True Christian women have divine protection when moral and spiritual storms threaten the welfare of her children and family. (Psalm 34:17-20) 5. Merchant ships are ever active and well-stocked for long journeys - True Christian women are always on duty to cheer, comfort, exhort and encourage. (Ephesians 4:29, Hebrews 3:13) 6. Merchant ships head for a harbor to unload their cargo - True Christian women seek to bring those around them into the harbor of safety and security of Christ. 7. Merchant ships keep nothing for themselves - What they carry is for others. When their destination is reached, their cargo is unloaded for the benefit of others. (Philippians 2:3)
Verse 15 speaks of something a little different. However, it still goes with verse 14. All of those points describe the same woman in the following verse. The main part being "she riseth also while it yet night." This woman doesn't overindulge in sleep. She woke up early to prepare things for the day. I'll always remember the stories my mom told me about my great-grandmother when I was younger. She would speak of how early they had to get up in order to get chores and farm work done. If the whole house had to be up 4 or 4:30, my mamaw would have to get up much earlier. They couldn't grab pop tarts and grab a bowl of cereal. She made pork, bacon, biscuits, gravy, etc. She was this woman in the verse. The remainder of the verse describes "and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens." This woman had to start her day cooking for a majority of people. In between cooking huge meals, she had to dust, do laundry, clean, entertain children, and who knows what else. In a house with a dirt floor, rocks for a wash cycle and no daycare, women in our generation would say forget it and find somewhere to hide. We think we have it rough with cars, ceramic tile/carpet, automatic wash/dry cycles, and putting our kids to bed. Boy, when you put it that way, we ought to be ashamed.
These days you don't hear of any of that. Even the farms don't operate the way they used to. It's not family working together anymore. Everything is computerized and we have the mentality of wanting things immediately. Who gets up any day of the week now and cooks like that? Much less doing it every single morning?! In Forbes magazine, there was an article proving that there were benefits of waking up earlier. They counted at least ten benefits to waking up earlier. They are:
1. More productive, 2. Anticipate problems and solve them, 3. Better planning, 4. Time to excersise, 5. Get better sleep, 6. More optimistic, 7. Easier commutes, 8. Time to meditate/pray, 9. More family time, 10. Prepare for upcoming appointments and events.
The most important of these 10 is more time to pray and meditate on God's word. If you take the time to spend your morning with God before you begin the rushed day that's more than likely ahead of you, your day will go better. I promise. You'll be at peace before you have to encounter those who make you upset or mad. You'll have the opportunity to ask God to guide your day and be in the center of all that you do. This is not an archaic verse that doesn't apply to our lives today. Although the 1700's seem like a long time ago, it wasn't. Even Ben Franklin once said "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." He obviously saw the benefits in rising early. God hasn't changed since Biblical times, sure didn't change before the 1700's and hasn't changed in our times today. Our God isn't changing. We are the ones that keep changing the rules. We make them to be what we want them to be. We have begun deciding what is acceptable behavior and what is not. Most women that read these two verses would probably glance over them and then try to erase it from their memory. I have some friends who won't wake up until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. They would roll their eyes at the thoughts of getting up before the sun. I could keep going, but I'll stop.
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