I have spent years being motivated by many different things and people. I have been motivated by trends of the season, by people that hold different roles in my life. I have been motivated by happiness and I have been motivated by sadness. I have been motivated by envy, I have been motivated by jealousy. I have been motivated by pride, I have been motivated by curiousity. I have been motivated by ambition. I have been motivated by sickness. I have been motivated by clutter and I have been motivated by organization. The most important person I have been motivated by is Jesus Christ.
Most of the sources of motivation I listed above are really not healthy motivators. Most of them yield very short term results. I say that because I have wrestled with the Holy Spirit for years with the struggle of wanting to impress people. I was concerned about what people thought about me. I am a homemaker and writer. I have found that being worried about what people thought about my home, has been a big motivating factor behind when and how I did certain things. It's one thing to respond to people out of love, it's another to respond to them a certain way because you are worried about what they may think of you. That is not love.
Now God has revealed something very powerful to me about being a wife and mother. Have you ever read about the Proverbs 31 woman? Let me refresh your memory:
Most of the sources of motivation I listed above are really not healthy motivators. Most of them yield very short term results. I say that because I have wrestled with the Holy Spirit for years with the struggle of wanting to impress people. I was concerned about what people thought about me. I am a homemaker and writer. I have found that being worried about what people thought about my home, has been a big motivating factor behind when and how I did certain things. It's one thing to respond to people out of love, it's another to respond to them a certain way because you are worried about what they may think of you. That is not love.
Now God has revealed something very powerful to me about being a wife and mother. Have you ever read about the Proverbs 31 woman? Let me refresh your memory:
The Virtuous Wife
10 Who[b] can find a virtuous[c] wife?
For her worth is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax,
And willingly works with her hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
She brings her food from afar.
15 She also rises while it is yet night,
And provides food for her household,
And a portion for her maidservants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
From her profits she plants a vineyard.
17 She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is good,
And her lamp does not go out by night.
19 She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hand holds the spindle.
20 She extends her hand to the poor,
Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,
For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
22 She makes tapestry for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies sashes for the merchants.
25 Strength and honor are her clothing;
She shall rejoice in time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
27 She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”
30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates
For her worth is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax,
And willingly works with her hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
She brings her food from afar.
15 She also rises while it is yet night,
And provides food for her household,
And a portion for her maidservants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
From her profits she plants a vineyard.
17 She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is good,
And her lamp does not go out by night.
19 She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hand holds the spindle.
20 She extends her hand to the poor,
Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,
For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
22 She makes tapestry for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies sashes for the merchants.
25 Strength and honor are her clothing;
She shall rejoice in time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
27 She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”
30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates
These versus of scripture use to piss me off so much I would close my bible. Why??? Because she was so perfect and I knew I could not live up to that description. For years I asked God why would He put that in His word if He knew we couldn't do it. This year He communicated to me that I should not focus on her actions but on her spirit. So I stopped focusing on what she was doing and I stopped praying to be able to do what she was doing and I started praying and asking God to reveal her spirit to me. That was the beginning of my journey to really becoming more like this Proverbs 31 woman. God has just given me another piece that has blown me away. God has me in a season of life where He is ready for me to put my hands on a lot of different things. He is saying to me that some of what you are doing or all of what you are doing is going to prosper. That means at least one thing is going to prosper, that's a promise. But if you are doing nothing, then nothing is going to prosper. But what if everything you did prospered. If you are only doing 1 thing, you are not giving yourself a chance to prosper in many things.
Ecclesiastes 11:4-6
New King James Version (NKJV)
4 He who observes the wind will not sow,
And he who regards the clouds will not reap.
And he who regards the clouds will not reap.
5 As you do not know what is the way of the wind,[a]
Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child,
So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.
6 In the morning sow your seed,
And in the evening do not withhold your hand;
For you do not know which will prosper,
Either this or that,
Or whether both alike will be good.
Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child,
So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.
6 In the morning sow your seed,
And in the evening do not withhold your hand;
For you do not know which will prosper,
Either this or that,
Or whether both alike will be good.
The next piece that God gave me yesterday is below:
Proverbs 10:4
4 He who has a slack hand becomes poor,
But the hand of the diligent makes rich
But the hand of the diligent makes rich
Proverbs 12:24
24 The hand of the diligent will rule,
But the lazy man will be put to forced labor.
But the lazy man will be put to forced labor.
So now, God has given me the correct motivators in my life. It's not that I had never read these scriptures before. This time these scriptures came alive inside of me. That is what the Holy Spirit does in the lives of believers. God tells us to be diligent. Busyness is not the same as diligence. It comes down to the source of your motivation. When you are motivated by the Word of God, it will produce exactly what God says it will produce and you will have lasting results!!!!
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