Defying Defeat (Day 15)

Now that word strength sometimes is translated in the Old Testament as “boldness” or “power” or “might.” Have you ever made the mistake of thinking of a godly woman as a wimp—as a weak woman? Isn’t that the caricature that the feminist movement has given of Christian woman?

That takes strength and courage. It takes power. It takes might. It takes inner character. Strength is part of her clothing. She’s not a weak woman. She’s a courageous woman. She’s a bold woman. She’s strong in the Lord. Strength and honor are her clothing.

That word honor is sometimes translated “majesty, excellency, or goodly glory.” This is speaking of a woman’s inner character. That’s her clothing—that’s what matters most to her. Here’s a woman who is not weak and whiny. She’s not an energy taker; she’s an energy giver. She’s not controlled by her circumstances.

We know that her husband—no matter how godly he is, no matter how great a man he is—that he’s just a man and that he has weaknesses and limitations. And she has to live with this man. But she’s not controlled by those circumstances. She’s controlled by the power of the Spirit of God within her that gives her the strength to respond in a gracious way when her teenagers are acting like teenagers, and her husband’s acting like a teenager, and when she feels like acting like a teenager! It doesn’t matter what time of the month. It doesn’t matter what was going on around her. She was clothed with strength and honor.

Now, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t blow it. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t fail. She does; but she knows how to get up, confess her sin, appropriate God’s forgiveness, and go on. She doesn’t wallow in her failure. Yes, she blew it. Yes, she said something she shouldn’t have said. She mouthed off. She goes back. She makes it right. She seeks forgiveness, and she goes on. That’s a woman that’s clothed in strength and with honor.

Do you know where you get that strength and honor? From the Lord. Not from your circumstances, not from your husband, not from your children, not from your parents, but from the Lord. Psalm 96, verse 6, tells us that honor and majesty are before Him. Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

Do you want to reflect the beauty, the strength, the honor, the majesty of Christ in your home, in your circumstances? Then learn to live in the presence of the Lord. Get into His presence. Get into His Word.

You say, “I don’t have time.” If you don’t have time, then make time; find time. Because if you’re not spending time alone with the Lord beholding His beauty, you will never reflect His beauty. You’ll never be like Him. You’ll never have that strength and honor to deal with life’s pressures if you’re not living in the presence of the Lord.

When you do get into His presence, you’ll find that He begins to clothe you first within, and then in a way that can’t help but come out with His beauty. “Honor and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary” (Psalm 96:6, KJV).