A Woman Of Strength, Dignity And Laughter

So, my challenge to all that are here today, men and women alike is to find your strength in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let him empower you with strength, grace, patience, peace, wisdom and the ability to deal with any situation that you face, so that you can handle it with dignity just like this woman of noble character described in Proverbs 31.

If you do allow our Lord to clothe you with strength and dignity, your influence on children and adults alike will be unstoppable.

Now, dignity seems to be something refined and formal and serious, but this verse reminds us that there is more to life than the serious approach. There is a time for laughter as well!

Yes, you heard it right! Laughter. Laughter is a gift from God! I actually believe that laughter is the best medicine, and you don’t have to drive to the Pharmacy to get it!

Other translations of the Bible word this verse in different ways:

The New Living Translation: She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.

The Message: She always faces tomorrow with a smile.

A woman of noble character will laugh without fear of the future! How do you do that? It’s not because she KNOWS the future but the woman of noble character knows the God of the future!

One of the early songs my mother taught me was: “He’s got the whole world in His hand, He’s got the whole wide world in His hand…”

The other song she would sing to my sisters and I when we were children was: “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so…”

So, I learned two very important truths from my mother in my childhood that are still true today: 1.) God’s got everything under control and 2.) Jesus loves me, no matter what!

Therefore, every one of us here today, men and women alike, should know that we can laugh without fear of the future because …God’s got this! We can laugh in the face of Satan, as we age, because our future is secure with Christ!

Let’s talk about the laughter part of this verse. My mom and dad modeled laughter for me. They’ve always loved to laugh. Life is too hard to not bring some comic relief to your days. I actually believe it’s God’s healing therapy.

James Dobson tells the story of a mother who was sick in bed. She had the flu. And her little daughter wanted so much to be a good nurse. So she brought mom an extra pillow, and she brought her a magazine to read. And then she even showed up with a surprise cup of tea. And her mother took a sip of the tea, and she said, ''Wow! I didn't even know you knew how to make tea!'' And the girl said, ''Oh, yes. I learned by watching you. I put some water in the pot, and then I put the tea leaves in, and I boiled the water, and then I strained it into a cup. But I couldn't find the strainer, so I used the flyswatter instead.'' And her mother said, ''You what?!'' And the girl said, ''Oh, don't worry, mom. I didn't use the new flyswatter; I used the old one.''

We need to laugh more, don’t we? I feel so much better when I laugh, don’t you? Of all people, Christians have a reason to laugh. God’s in control, and Satan cannot overthrow Him. So, because of that we need to live out our days with a whole lot more joy than we do.