by Cindy Arora

Charm can be misleading, and beauty is vain and so quickly fades, but this virtuous woman lives in the wonder, awe, and fear of the Lord.  She will be praised throughout eternity (Proverbs 31:30, TPT).

I inwardly groaned every time someone wanted to study the poem of the Proverbs 31 woman. I felt exhausted and overwhelmed at just the thought of trying to emulate that superwoman. This should have been my first clue that this proverb is prophetic rather than pragmatic.

To assuage my heart, I focused on verse 30 (quoted above). If I feared the Lord, I reasoned, then all these other things will fall into place. I reduced the poetic language that looked like an endless “to do” list into character traits. That made the proverb more palatable — more doable.

While that way of thinking may be valuable in a pragmatic sense, it misses the prophetic nature of the poem. The bride for the king described Proverbs 31 is the bride of Christ — the church. She seems superhuman because she is! The bride of Christ is supernaturally empowered by the Holy Spirit. Her worth is more than jewels because the price paid for her was the precious blood of Jesus Christ. The Husband that entrusts His heart to her is none other than Jesus himself.

When read from the prophetic perspective, I feel inspired and encouraged instead of exhausted.  Previously when I read about this woman rising while it is still night, I thought of all those midnight feedings when the children were babies. How weary I was. Now when I read about rising while it is still dark, I think of Isaiah 60:1: “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you” (NIV). The bride of Christ shines forth His glory! You and I are privileged to be a part of that.

You can see why I am enjoying the prophetic reading over the pragmatic reading. The pragmatic highlights my deficiencies; the prophetic declares my destiny!