In Becoming a Woman of Encouragement and Influence (part 1) we took a look into Proverbs 9 and dug into the characteristics and homes of two different women, one called wisdom and the other folly… We talked a little about how this woman folly is boisterous. How this woman folly desires to keep our souls in a state of discouragement… and because she is who she is… I am so very thankful for the woman of wisdom.

We live in a world of folly. We live in a world that is telling us we will never be enough. We will never be pretty enough. We will never have enough. We will never be smart enough. And if you are a wife and/or a mother, you live in a world where nothing is ever just done. The laundry is never done. The dishes are never done. The house is never clean… As soon as we think we have accomplished a task it seems like we turn around and there it is again. I am sure, if your life is like mine, you can say as the people in Judah said,

Thus in Judah it was said,

“The strength of the burden bearers is failing,


Yet there is much rubbish;


And we ourselves are unable


To rebuild the wall.”

Nehemiah 4:10

We can easily find ourselves not being able to see past the rubbish, not being able to see past our current circumstances. We can easily find ourselves overwhelmed, flat out exhausted, and discouraged.

That is why it is vital that we become women of encouragement and influence. When we read on in Nehemiah 4 we learn something pretty special. We learn what God showed Nehemiah to do for the people of Judah,

and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears and bows. When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: “Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.”

Nehemiah 4:13-14

Nehemiah stationed the people in families and pointed them back to their God. The people needed to take their eyes off the rubbish, off their current circumstances and put them back on their great and awesome Lord. They needed to remember that they had no reason to fear because their God was with them. Instead of sinking in fear and discouragement, they needed to stand in faith, and defend their family, and fight for them and their houses.

Did you notice what the first thing was that Nehemiah did?

He stationed them by families.

Precious ones, God desires to station us by families. I believe that is why He gave us the church. A local church is built up of families. Families that are supposed to be watching each others backs. Families that are fighting for each other not against each other.

In the book of Philippians we meet a couple of ladies who were having a problem getting along…

I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Philippians 4:2-3

These two ladies were believers. They were faithful believers. They had struggled with Paul in the cause of the gospel. They loved God, they loved His Son, and they loved His church… but for some reason they were having a hard time loving one another. Paul’s charge to the church was to help these women.

These women were not to fight against each other… but for each other. They needed a hand stretched out to pull them up… not push them further down. They didn’t need anyone to pick sides. They needed someone to bridge the gap. Beloved of God, we whose names are recorded in the book of life have been called to stand in the gap… we have been called to help.

I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land…

Ezekiel 22:30

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The Lord is for me among those who help me…

Psalm 118:7

Now the question is… how do we help?

We will dig into that next time.

 Becoming a Woman of Encouragement and Influence (part 3)

A few weeks ago I shared a message at a ladies event. The message was Becoming a Woman of Encouragement and Influence. Verbally I managed to share it within the forty-five minute time slot, but writing it, now that would exceed even my normal word count. Therefore, we’ll look at it in parts. We begin with Proverbs 9…

In Proverbs 9 we meet two women that represent two different houses, two different paths. As we read through Proverbs 9 I believe it is divided into three sections. The first section, Proverbs 9:1-6 introduces us to one woman, one house, and one path. The third section, Proverbs 9:13-18 introduces us to another woman, another house, and another path. The second section, Proverbs 9:7-12, I believe represents the fork in the road between the two, and how we receive Proverbs 9:7-12 determines the path we will walk, the house we will enter, and the woman to whom we will listen.

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Let’s meet the first woman… her name is Wisdom.

Wisdom has built her house,
She has hewn out her seven pillars;
She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine;
She has also set her table;
She has sent out her maidens, she calls
From the tops of the heights of the city:
“Whoever is naive, let him turn in here!”
To him who lacks understanding she says,
“Come, eat of my food
And drink of the wine I have mixed.
“Forsake your folly and live,
And proceed in the way of understanding.”

Proverbs 9:1-6

What I want you to see is that this woman wisdom has her stuff together. Notice that she has built her house. Notice that she has hewn out her seven pillars. Think with me for a moment… what is the purpose of pillars?

Pillars provide stability and strength. If we look at the ruins of ancient societies, even if the house has fallen, the pillars remain. This woman wisdom has built a strong, stable home.

Let’s keep looking.

Notice the work of this woman wisdom, she has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine, she has set her table, she has sent out her maidens. She calls out. This woman is able. This woman is strong. This woman is prepared. This woman is saying, Hey whatever you need, come and see me. Bring your tired, weary, hungry, thirsty self in here to my house and let me help you. I have everything that you need and I have the ability to teach you to have this for yourself. See here are my maidens, I provided for them, and they were fully equipped to be sent out, and to find you… I will fully equip you so that you might go and do likewise… become a maiden of mine and become a woman of wisdom. Let me teach you. Listen to me. 

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Now let’s take a look see at our other woman… her name is Folly.

The woman of folly is boisterous,
She is naive and knows nothing.
She sits at the doorway of her house,
On a seat by the high places of the city,
Calling to those who pass by,
Who are making their paths straight:
“Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,”
And to him who lacks understanding she says,
“Stolen water is sweet;
And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
But he does not know that the dead are there,
That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

Proverbs 9:13-18

The first thing we learn about this woman of folly is that she is boisterous. Now this word boisterous in the original language is pretty darn interesting. In the Hebrew this word is hamah and it means,

• To murmur, growl, roar
• To murmur a soul into discouragement
• To growl like a dog
• To roar as in to keep a city in an uproar

This woman folly is not there to encourage or strengthen anyone. As a matter of fact she is what I like to call a pot-stirrer. She is here to murmur and growl and roar and to keep everyone around her in turmoil. She has no desire to calm a soul, to encourage a soul, to strengthen a soul… no… she simply desires to murmur that soul into discouragement. She has no desire to share peace and hope and stability. No, she wants us off-guard, off kilter, confused, confounded, bewildered, stressed out beyond the ability to reason for ourselves.

(Hmmm…. does this sound anything like our current media and/or political strategies)

Notice what we learn next. This woman is naive and knows nothing. Notice that this woman sits. She sits at her doorway on a seat by the high places of the city. She sits and is calling out to those who are passing by… she sits. She is NOT building her house. She is NOT hewing out pillars. She is NOT preparing food, mixing wine, or setting a table. She has NO maidens to send out. She doesn’t even get up to go and seek… she sits like a spider waiting for those who pass her by so that she can catch them in her web of destruction.

Here is the kicker. Let’s look side by side what these two woman call out…

Both of these woman call out the same words.

“Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,”
And to him who lacks understanding she says,

Proverbs 9:4,16

Yet the heart, and the purpose, behind the words are completely opposite. The woman wisdom calls out to the naive and to those who lack understanding to come into her house so that she might provide them with what she herself has prepared. She calls out to them to strengthen and encourage and feed and equip so that she might give them the tools to become someone of wisdom and stability themselves in order to seek and help others. The woman wisdom seeks those who need her. She sends out for those who are naive and lack understanding so that she might teach them and give them wisdom.

On the other hand, this woman folly, she has nothing to give. She is looking for the naive and those who lack understanding so that she can bring them into her house and take from them whatever they have for herself. She seeks the naive so that she might devour them in their naiveté.

She is an Ursala…

The woman wisdom cries out for us to forsake folly and live… she wants to give us life.

The woman folly, has stolen all she has, and has nothing to offer us but death.

The question we have to ask ourselves… if they are calling out the same words… both offering food and drink… how are we to know who is Folly and who is Wisdom?

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Here is where Proverbs 9:7-12 comes in. The fork in the road.

He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself,
And he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself.
Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you,
Reprove a wise man and he will love you.
Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser,
Teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
For by me your days will be multiplied,
And years of life will be added to you.
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself,
And if you scoff, you alone will bear it.

Precious one, are you willing to take rebuke?

Are you willing to hear that you are wrong?

Are you willing to receive correction?

Are you willing to submit your will to the Word of God?

This and this alone will determine whose doorway we willingly turn into… this alone will determine what path we will take… this alone will determine whether we ourselves become a woman of wisdom or a woman of folly. Beloved, let us turn to wisdom.

 Becoming a Woman of Encouragement and Influence (part 2)