Thursday, March 5, 2009

Are you Trustworthy? Proverbs 31:11 (Bible study #4)

"The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. "
Proverbs 31:11 (esv)

GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY:
Who do you know to be trustworthy? God is trustworthy. Gods word is trustworthy. God does not lie, He has always and will always do what He says that He will do. God cannot be God if He was not trustworthy! God is the perfect example of being trustworthy. Do you honestly believe that God is trustworthy? Does your heart trust in God? Does your life reflect a trust in God in your words, your actions and your thoughts? Let us reflect on some scriptures that mention the trustworthiness of God.

Psalm 111:7 "The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy."

Psalm 93:5 "Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits your house, O Lord, forevermore."

God is faithful and just, His precepts and decrees are trustworthy. There are many accounts in the bible where these attributes of God are shown. Can you think of any? Just to mention one, Noah. God said that he would destroy mankind, He kept His word. Afterwards, God promised that He would not flood the world again and created the rainbow to remind us of His covenant. His words have remained true thousands of years later.

Another example is Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 1:15 "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost."

Paul admits to being the greatest of sinners. If I asked you if you were a good person, you may also side with Paul and declare that you are also the greatest of sinners. Therefore the reality of Jesus Christ, being sent by God to this earth to be a sacrifice for your sin and to bear the wrath of God for your sin would be an incredible reality. It should cause you to rejoice, give thanks to God for His mercy towards you, to give Him all the Glory. If we believe that God is trustworthy and His word is true, we will not doubt that our sin is forgiven. We are free to serve Him with all of our hearts, in obedience to His Word seeking Him to be glorified in all things. Give thanks to the Lord because He is trustworthy.

VERSE STUDY:
Now for a hard question. Are you trustworthy? Let us disect the verse to find out how trustworthy you may be.

The heart is referred to as the "inner man, mind, will, heart"(1) It is "the seat of the senses, affections, and emotions of the mind, of various kinds, as confidence." (2)

Trust is to "rely on". (3) To confide in any one, to set one’s hope and confidence upon any one.(4) "To feel safe, be full of confidence."(5) "assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something; one in which confidence is placed; dependence on something future or contingent; a charge or duty imposed in faith or confidence or as a condition of some relationship; something committed or entrusted to one to be used or cared for in the interest of another; responsible charge or office"(12)

Husband is the reference to "owner, lord"(6) lord, i.e., the male marriage partner to a female, with a focus on the authoritative position of the male partner over the wife (7)

A lack is "to not have enough of what is needed, implying a need," (8) to lack, to be without (9)

Gain is "garments, food and drink,"(10) "goods, property, i.e., possessions of value." (11)


A CLOSER LOOK INTO THE VERSE AND APPLICATION:
If you look at our portion of scripture that we are studying, it starts at vs 10. I would dare to suggest that vs 10 is bringing out the personal relationship between God and with a person who He has saved, a woman in this case. As woman who have been redeemed, we live our lives to love, please, fear and Glorify God. This is what is rare and beautiful. I would then suggest that vs 11 then focuses on the relationship between the woman and her husband. Keeping God as the main focus always, a woman also has the responsibility of winning over her husbands trust and heart and to be consistent in safe guarding her husbands trust in her.

Before you can have your husbands heart trusting in you, your relationship with the Lord must be priority and you should be growing in knowledge and grace daily with the Lord. If this is not the case, I would urge you to set time aside each day to sit at the feet of your Lord in prayer and with His Word.

You then should focus on your relationship with your husband alone. Forget about being overwhelmed with gaining the trust of your husband in other areas of running a home. Concentrate on growing closer to your husband. Once you have started working on your relationship with your husband (which is always a priority in your marriage, if married), then start to focus in other areas. (Click on the title of this blog post. "Are you trustworthy?" and you will be directed to a list of 94 Ways a wife may express love to her husband by Wayne Mack. Do this when you are finished reading this post.)

Elizabeth George mentions a brilliant "checklist for Loyalty" in her book. Can your husband trust you in the following areas. If not, repent on humbled knees like the rest of us, and through prayer and discipline work at the areas. Remember, small steps at a time!!!! A trustworthy woman is not born over night, trust has to stand the test of time. It is time that is the most difficult mountain to face but by the Grace of God, He will strengthen you! Here is her list:

"*Money - Can your husbands heart and mind rest because of your diligent management of his (and your) assets (Proverbs 31:27)? Can he depend on you to be thrifty, wise and debt-free?

*Children - Are you a devoted mother, dedicated to training up obedient children who love the Lord, who love their father, and who bring honor to their names (Proverbs 31:1-2)?

*Home - Is your husband encouraged by the knowledge that al is well - and will be well - at home because of your focused efforts to run an orderly home (Proverbs 31:13,27)?

*Reputation - Is your husband's heart at rest becuase he knows that you will do him good and not evil all the days of your life, never causing any questions about his character to arise (Proverbs 31:12,23)?

*Fidelity - Can your husband trust and even rejoice in your lifelong faithfulness to your wedding vows (Proverbs 5:18)?

*Emotion - Does your husband rest in the knowledge that he can depend on you to be emotionally steady and stable avoiding blow-ups and flare-ups (Proverbs 14:30)?

*Happiness - Are you a fountain of joy, delighting yourself in the Lord (Psalm 37:4) and refteshing the hearts of those at home?

*Wisdom - can your husband trust you to handle the challenges, difficulties and crises of life with godly wisdom (Proverbs 19:14)?

*Conduct - Can your husband count on you to conduct yourself with graciousness (Proverbs 11:16), discretion (Proverbs 11:22), virtue (Proverbs 31:10), and dignity (Proverbs 31:25)?

*Love - Positive progress in the preceding nine areas is progress in love! You see, love is known by its actions. Your active care for your husband's assets and the details of his life is powerful evidence of your love for him (Proverbs 31:29)."(13)

HEART PROBING TIME:(14)

1. The heart: What do these proverbs say about the damage done by a wife with a character flaw?
Proverbs 12:4
Proverbs 19:3
Proverbs 21:9,19
Proverbs 27:15

2. The trust: Throughout the book of Proverbs, God advises against trusting in anyone or anything other than God. For instance, what do these Proverbs warn?

Proverbs 3:5
Proverbs 11:28
Proverbs 28:26


Now, what do these Proverbs teach us to do instead?

Proverbs 3:5
Proverbs 16:20
Proverbs 28:25
Proverbs 29:25

3. Can you point to any area of your life or any behavior that would cause your husband not to trust in you? Also not the changes you plan to make to be a more faithful wife.


EXTRA READING:

" The Book of Proverbs places on the husband the responsibility of guiding the home according to the wisdom of God, but as we shall see in chapter 31, the wife also plays an important part. Where two people love the Lord and love each other, God can guide and bless them. It’s not a “fifty-fifty” arrangement, because “two become one.” Rather, it’s a 100 percent devotion to each other and to the Lord.
The wife. Every wife will either build the home or tear it down (14:1). If she walks with the Lord, she will be a builder; if she disobeys God’s wisdom, she will be a destroyer. She must be faithful to her husband, for “A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones” (12:4, NIV). A crown or a cancer: What a choice! And beauty isn’t the only thing he should look for; it’s also important that a wife have wisdom and discretion (11:22). " Be Skillful

"If the husband and wife trust each other, there will be harmony in the home. Her husband has no fears or suspicions as she is busy about her work, because he knows she has character and will do nothing but good for him and their children. If brides and grooms take seriously the vows of love and loyalty they repeat to each other and to God at the altar, they will have a wall of confidence around their marriage that will keep out every enemy." Be skillful

Written by:
Natalie Rogers
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Sources:
(1) Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, pg 524.1
(2) Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament, pg 427
(3) Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon pg 105.1
(4) Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament, pg 112
(5) A concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, pg 37
(6) Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon pg 127.1
(7) Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament), DBLH 1251
(8) Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament), DBLH 2893
(9) Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament, pg 295
(10) Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, 1021.2
(11) Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament), DBLH 8965
(12) MW Collegiate Dict (11th ED)
(13) Beautiful in God's eyes by Elizabeth George, pg 34,35
(14) Discovering the Treasures of a Godly Woman, Proverbs 31, by Elizabeth George pg 18 -20

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