A Woman Of Strength, Dignity And Laughter

Sermon

Lanier Christian Church

May 14, 2017 – Mother’s Day

A Woman of Strength, Dignity and Laughter

Proverbs 31:25

“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.” - Proverbs 31:25

Perhaps many of you are familiar with Proverbs 31. It is the concluding chapter of the Old Testament book of Proverbs. Although King Solomon is credited with most of the proverbs, the last chapter is from King Lemuel, who may have been an Egyptian or Babylonian King, but nonetheless wrote about a woman of noble character, and he got the idea from his own mother.

The beginning of Proverbs 31 says: The sayings of King Lemuel—an inspired utterance his mother taught him.

These inspiring words were written in Hebrew in acrostic form. From verse 10 until the concluding words, we see an acrostic poem. This means the first line starts with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and the second line the second letter and so forth.

You may say, I’m not familiar with acrostic poems but you’ve probably heard this one by Howard Johnson…PLAY VIDEO

“M' is for the million things she gave me, 'O' means only that she's growing old, 'T' is for the tears were shed to save me, 'H' is for her heart of purest gold; 'E' is for her eyes, with love-light shining, 'R' means right, and right she'll always be, Put them all together, they spell 'mother,' A word that means the world to me.

So…because of that song, that some of us learned in elementary school, we know what an acrostic is.

On this Mother’s Day I am well aware of the feelings that are brought about by this holiday. Some of you are blessed with wonderful memories of your mother. Some of you are grieving over the loss of your mother. Some of you have deep heartache on this day due to hurtful memories. Some of you never knew your mother. Some of you are blessed with children. Some of you are blessed by children.

But, for all of you women here today, know this: God has called you to be a woman of noble character!

Proverbs 31 gives an extensive description of what a woman of noble character looks like. But today I want to focus in on this one verse, Proverbs 31:25

“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.”

My sisters in Christ, it’s not about the beautiful clothing you wear today at church or any day, it’s about the kind of character you cover yourself with day in and day out.

The woman of noble character; The woman that reflects the very virtues of God, is clothed with strength and dignity.

Dignity is the outer reflection of the strength within you. You can perhaps be strong without dignity, but you can’t be dignified without strength. I don’t think there is a mom here today that doesn’t believe the verse in Philippians 4:13– “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

The strength to be a woman of noble character comes through Christ. He is the rock from which you draw your strength. He is the source from which you draw your help. He is the power that sustains when you feel unable to carry on.

The greatest gift that my own mother has given me is the gift of faith and strength that is found in Jesus. She is a dignified woman in every sense of the word, because Christ is her strength. And when I hear her pray, wow, it’s like she has a direct line to God! With sincerity and dignity and a bold, yet quiet strength, she approaches the throne of God and petitions him in a way that you know for certain that God hears!

Perhaps any woman’s strength and dignity is best revealed in the crisis times of life. That’s when the noble character really is tested and revealed.

There are women in this room today that have shown strength and dignity in the most difficult trials of life:

Some of you have battled cancer, or some other serious illness, and been dignified and strong throughout the process.

Some of you have grieved the loss of children and husbands and siblings and parents but have done so with dignity and strength.

Some of you have suffered through miscarriage or infertility and have faced those trials with dignity and strength.

Some of you have battled financial woes and job stress, but have stood firm with dignity and strength.

Some of you have dealt with loneliness and heartache, but have done so with dignity and strength.

I found this anonymous quote this week: Don’t worry. God is never blind to your tears, never deaf to your prayers and never silent to your pain. He sees. He hears and He will deliver you.