Jerri Phillips

As I laid the day's plans before the Lord and spoke to Him about plans for visions He's given me, I asked Him for wisdom and balance. "Balance" is a word often used but not truly understood by most of us, so I wanted to find out His idea of balance. Once again, He took me to Proverbs 31.

This morning I am camping out on the first part of that section. It says:

A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.

I am completely unsure of what "noble character" actually means, so I went to the Webster's 1828 Dictionary. According to it "noble" means:

• 1. Great; elevated; dignified; being above every thing that can dishonor reputation; as a nobel mind; a noble courage; noble deeds of valor.
  2. Exalted; elevated; sublime.
  5. Distinguished from commoners by rank and title; as a noble personage.
  6. Free; generous; liberal; as a noble heart.
  8. Ingenuous; candid; of an excellent disposition; ready to receive truth. Acts 17.
  9. Of the best kind; choice; excellent; as a noble vine. Jeremiah 2.
  NO'BLE, n.
  1. A person of rank above a commoner; a nobleman; a peer; as a duke, marquis, earl, viscount or baron.
  2. In Scripture, a person of honorable family or distinguished by station. Exodus 24. Nehemiah 6.
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  nobleness
  NO'BLENESS, n.
  1. Greatness; dignity; ingenuousness; magnanimity; elevation of mind or of condition, particularly of the mind.
  2. Distinction by birth; honor derived from a noble ancestry."

So, a woman...
...who realizes she is not common but rather believes in her identity as being excellent and extraordinary,
...who is free from living down to expectations or the norm,
...who holds herself as dignified,
...who knows her honored place in the King's family...

A woman who embraces these truths about herself,
who is unafraid to proclaim these truths about herself,
unafraid to LIVE these truths,
unafraid to be set apart,
unafraid to be distingushed for her exellence,
unafraid to refuse to allow less of and for herself...

Who wouldn't want to be a woman like that?

LORD, open my eyes to see that such a woman already lives in me. I simply need to let her be seen for all she is according to your workmanship, perfect, and purposeful.

Copyright Jerri Phillips 2009