Category Archives: Ruby Tuesdays

Ruby Tuesdays: A Mighty Woman (part three)

Please join us over at Refreshmoments to read more Ruby Tuesdays’ posts. To read part one and two of my series, click here.

“She senses that her gain is good; Her lamp does not go out at night.” (Proverbs 31:18, NAS).
My lamp wants to.

Go out tonight.

But my heart refuses its dimming. Not because I don’t need it to; I need some rest. But rather because I have a stirring that forces my thoughts. A penned up feeling that has surfaced today; the first of its kind, at least as it pertains to this child. My second child. A boy who’s grown up too quickly and who, in two months time, will throw his cap into the air and declare his finish to his childhood.

I’ve been waiting for this feeling to surface all year, but for whatever reason, it waited until today to erupt. I was unprepared for its arrival and yet completely willing to entreat its sway over my mind and my emotion.

Butterflies.

Flutters of worry. Flutters of anxiety. Flutters of anticipation. Flutters of exultation. Flutters of “what’s next” and flutters about “how I’m going to walk this one through.” Flutters of all manner of feelings, rolled up into a few moments of pause.

It brought me to my knees and my tears accordingly. To my prayers and my hopes for how this thing … this future that remains to be seen … is going to shift my season, yet again. Two years ago, I walked this road with my first son. It was different then. Harder in many ways. Time has developed my trust for the process, especially because that time has been seasoned with good decisions and good provision that have grown us all in very good measure.

My gain has been very good. All those years of seeding the soil of my eldest son’s maturation have blossomed into a budding harvest of manhood. I imagine the same for my second son. I hope for it; I pray for it; I long for it to walk in similar and smooth transition.

It seems that it will, at least for today. Today, despite my flutters, the future seems to be narrowing—to be falling into sharper focus as to where my son will further his growing over the next four years. Four of the five colleges to which he’s applied have laid some ample offers at his feet. Good offers. Financial packages that we couldn’t have imagined for him on the front side of this process.

On the front side, we couldn’t see a way. With an older brother already in college and with us living within the budget of our single-family income, we couldn’t imagine how we would be able to afford him the education at the school of his choice. So I didn’t.

Imagine.

On the front side.

Instead, I simply left it in God’s hands.

Good hands. Hands that are completely capable and willing to hold the trust and faith of our hearts.

And now, on the backside of a strenuous and lengthy stretch, it seems that we will be able to afford them all. And the mighty woman in me, a woman longing to be found worthy of a ruby’s bestowing, is sensing a very good gain through the hands of a very good Father who understands the needs of his children and of his provision therein.

God has moved on behalf of our household, friends. And when I discerned it today, when I began to see the prayers of my long and deliberate trust beginning to unfold in our favor, all I could do was fall prey to my fluttering. From one emotion to the next until I found my knees and my subsequent thanks.

God gave me more than an answer today. He gave me the gift of faith … of seeing how my believing Him on the “front side” of an unknown can be walked in peace and assurance until the answer arrives.

Rarely have I done that. Rarely have I fully trusted Him with my prayers. Rarely have I believed that He was truly and faithfully going to work it all out. But this time—this season of trusting God with my son’s college outcome—was my rare exception. This time, I chose expectation over doubt. Faith over fear. Peace over panic. And tonight, from the backside, it seems to me to be a very good way to walk a journey.

In full assurance of a good gain because a good God stands at the helm.

Long ago and many seasons before this one, God lit his lamp within my heart. I’ve spent the better part of forty years tending to that wick. Some years have walked brightly. Some dim. Some pure. Some tainted. But all have walked with the possibility of a brilliantly lit faith. Today, my faith burned with a radiance that surpassed them all.

Today, faith grew, and tonight, God’s wick within me is flaming with a peace that has rarely been my portion. God has stoked my heart with a night’s burning that will remain, despite this body’s need for rest.

I can take that rest because my Father is faithful to tend to my all in my stead, on the front side of tomorrow … on the backside of today. My times are in his hands. So are yours. And that, my friends, is a good gain all the way around. As always,

~elaine

Ruby Tuesdays: A Mighty Woman (part two)

Please join us over at Refreshmoments for more Ruby Tuesdays’ posts. To read part one of my series, click here.

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“A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.” (Proverbs 31:10-11).

I earned my P31 ruby today. Not for my growing of the backyard money tree or my turning grapes into wine or even my spinning thread into gold. That’s child play on most days. No, today I earned my ruby for bravely going where few are willing to go.

My eldest sons’ bedroom.

It’s been a long time, friends, and the snack bar that has now collected beneath their beds amidst the mile high pile of dust is enough to make even Martha Stewart shudder. What started out as a routine vacuum quickly morphed into an hour long re-arrangement of furniture as I huffed and puffed my way through at least three months’ worth of left-overs.

Honestly, I don’t get paid enough for hazmat duty; come to think of it, I don’t get paid at all. But rest assured, my crown is ready and waiting for the polished ruby that is sure to come as a result of my weary and somewhat unwilling doing. It’s a doing I do because a mighty woman doesn’t let a lifetime supply of dust get in her way. She simply keeps to the task because she’s been given what she needs to do the task…

The full confidence and trust of another. Accordingly, I venture into a second contemplation about Mrs. P31.

A mighty woman is a woman who has a mighty backing. In the case of Mrs. P31, that backing resembles a husband—Ba’al in the Hebrew language carrying with it a variety of uses including “lord, husband, possessor, the title of a Canaanite deity (Baal), rulers, leaders, the legal owners of property.”[i]

To miss this fact, to assume Mrs. P31 goes it alone when it comes to her becoming, is to miss an important facet of her transformation process. Without the confidence and trust of another’s backing from behind and from the beginning, her road to rubies is, indeed, a hard road to hoe. And lest you’re thinking it all revolves around a husband, think again.

After all, not all of us are married. Even if we are, not all of us have the benefit of having a husband who invests his confidence and trust into our becoming. Thus, how do we make this one fit into our story? What role does a man play in the outcome of our P31 status?

Here’s what I think. Take it for what it’s worth … my thinking in the matter.

I believe that you and I can reach P31 status without a man in our lives. That being said, I don’t think that we will ever reach our intended state of rarity without the backing of the One Possessor who lovingly held us in his arms long before we would ever know the arms of any other.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:13-16).

Our Father created us with rubies in mind. Nothing from his hands has been accidental or unworthy of kingdom status. God knew, even from our mother’s womb, just exactly what it was going to take for us to change our wanton estate into his rare intention. It would take his Son’s surrender on a cross. It would take a resurrection on an Easter morning, and it would further take a Holy Spirit’s indwelling at Pentecost in order for us to make the transformation.

By the time you and I came onto the scene of this world, Love’s redeeming work had been accomplished … finished and ready for the unwrapping some 2000 years ago. We don’t have to wait to take upon us, that which has already been done for us. It’s simply ours for the asking, for the receiving, for the shaping, and for the furthering of our becoming the “all” that our Father has intended for us to be.

His rare find. His ruby amidst rocks. His gem amidst gravel. His mighty amidst the meager.

God has equipped us to be his P31 women in this world. How?

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:3-4).

Indeed, a mighty backing—a holy and sacred trust—invested into our hearts and lives so that in return, we might begin to resemble something far greater than ourselves. Through the transforming work of God’s Spirit within, we begin to look like the One who held us first, loves us best, and who puts his full confidence behind our ruby becoming.

That, my friends, is what I think a “husband” has to do with my Mrs. P31 status. Accordingly, my God is worthy of my best efforts at becoming his gem. Even when it means I must boldly go where others are unwilling to go … dust mountains, snack bars, and a little huffing and puffing included. I want to be my Father’s mighty woman, thus I pray…

Back me up, Father, with your confidence and your trust for my becoming more than I currently am. You, alone, hold the power to shape me into a rare find. Thank you for keeping me on task and to the road, even when my “want to” is lacking. If there is any good living in me, it is You, Lord. You are the reason behind my ruby red. Thank you for entrusting me with its humble carrying. Amen.

Copyright © March 2009 – Elaine Olsen

[i] Baker & Carpenter, entry for “ba’al,” The Complete Word Study Dictionary OT (AMG Publishing: Chattanooga, 2003), 151.

~elaine

Ruby Tuesdays: A Mighty Woman (part one)

Last week, Refresh Mom posted a meme of sorts (what does that word mean anyway?) on her blog called “Ruby Tuesdays”. You can read more about it here. If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you probably understand that I’m not one for this type of thing; still and yet, something drew me toward this one, and today I make my first offering in a series of Tuesday posts that will be directly linked to my thoughts about the Proverbs 31 woman. I know that http://refreshmoments.com/welcomes your participation in Ruby Tuesdays at any level.

“A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.” (Proverbs 31:10).

She’s always bothered me, this P31 woman. Not for the reasons you might think. I’m all about her flaxen and her early morning arrivals to the scene of her life. Her trading and her sewing, her spinning and her wisdom. Indeed, all noble qualities of an exceptional woman … back then. But this is now, and sometimes, it’s hard to draw the parallel between the two.What bothers me about her is that I’m not her. I don’t imagine that in my wildest imaginings I will ever hold that honor. And to be honest with you, a part of me resents her as my standard—bearer, the measuring stick to be used for my measuring up.

That being said, her epitaph is a worthy read. After all, it’s a part of holy writ—intended for contemplation and assimilation. And while I don’t reason her to be the sum total of my perfection, I think her life worthy of more than my immediate dismissal. It’s an itch that I need to scratch, if for nothing more than to find the ointment to soothe the ache between what I am and what God longs for me to be.

A rare find.

A woman worth more than rubies. A woman of noble character.

Noble. Chayil in the Hebrew language, a masculine noun meaning, “strength, might, ability, and efficiency.”[i]

Thus, a loose translation of Proverbs 31:10 … “A wife of strength, might, ability, and efficiency, who can find? She is more valuable than rubies.”

To understand the depth of such a statement, one must understand the worthy nature of a ruby. Accordingly, my contemplation begins.

1. A ruby is one of four precious gemstones, the others being a sapphire, emerald, and diamond. Precious gemstones are less common requiring a harder dig and a more intensive search, therefore increasing their value; semi-precious stones are more readily available, easier to find, and easier to pocket.

A woman of noble character, therefore, is a precious gem, less common and more valuable.

2. A ruby is admired and cherished for its color. Its color ranges from pink to blood red, with a vivid, medium dark-toned red (sometimes coined as a “pigeon red blood”) being the most desirable. Another words, the richer and deeper the hue, the more valuable the stone.

A woman of noble character, therefore, is a woman who exhibits the rich and the deep of a sacrificial blood.

3. A ruby is valuable because of its hardness. Hardness is a term used to describe the durability of a substance. The harder the gemstone, the higher its resistance to various kinds of shape change when force is applied.[ii]

A woman of noble character, therefore, is a woman not easily shaped by outside forces. Instead, her tough exterior allows her the careful protection over her tender interior.

4. A ruby carries imperfections within. The inclusions of rutile within the ruby verify its authenticity. Rutile is a mineral resembling silk like needles or slender crystals that occur naturally within the formation of certain stones over time. Rather than detracting from a ruby’s worth, it adds value because of its capacity to create asterism.

A woman of noble character, therefore, is a woman who allows her “needles” their place toward exemplifying her worth.

5. With multiple rutile intersecting at the correct angles, a ruby holds the capacity for asterism. Asterism is an “exclusive light effect (which we called special optical phenomenon) of some crystal. When light pass through these crystals, its exhibit [is] a star-shaped figure, which [is] called “asterism”. This figure is produced by reflected or transmitted light.”[iii] For one to “see” the asterism, the stone must be illuminated.

A woman of noble character, therefore, is a woman who allows her needles the Light’s illumination from within and behind in order to project the beauty of her star to an outward audience.

Thus, a ruby…

is a precious and harder to find gemstone.
is colored with the rich and deep of a sacrificial red.
is hard and resistant to the insistence of outside forces.
is filled with needle-like imperfections.
contains the capacity for a star’s illumination.

A woman of strength and might, a P31 woman?

Well, all of this and more. Indeed, who can find a woman like that? Better still, who can shape and mold a woman accordingly?

Only One. And He did. And He does. And He is and will always be…

the Light—our behind the scenes illumination—who purifies and refines our inward so that our outward becomes the stuff of star status. A noble and sacred beholding that points the way to Jesus and that leads the way to his heart.

May He be found in me this day. May He be found in you also. Thus, I pray…

Let me be a rare find in your kingdom today, Lord. Refine my imperfections for your glory, and shine your light through me so that others might see your star and find their way home. You are the Star, Father, not me. Forgive me for ever thinking otherwise. Make me strong; make me mighty; make me holy, and keep me willing and on the path to your perfection in me. How I long to be a precious jewel in your crown. Amen.

 

Copyright © March 2009 – Elaine Olsen

[i] http://studylight.org/desk/?l=en&query=Proverbs+31&section=0&translation=nsn&oq=&sr=1
[ii] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardness
[iii] http://www.jewelinfo4u.com/Asterism_in_Gems.aspx

~elaine

PS: Congrats to Beth E. She’s the winner of a family resource from the previous post. Please email me your selection, Beth!

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