102E – Success Doesn’t Mean No Failures

Ever since I was a teenager, I've enjoyed reading the second half of Proverbs 31 about the Wife of Noble Character. I've always looked at that passage as an example of who I'd like to become, what I strive to be.

But recently I've read it again with a new perspective. This is not about a woman who doesn't rest. It doesn't say that she never failed. When it says that her lamp doesn't go out at night, I now think it's more likely that the point is that she earns enough to be able to pay her utilities without worry, not that she works instead of sleeps. :-D

She helps others - which could be anyone, any amount of help, not necessarily that she's so rich that she's become a philanthropist. (Though that could be true!)

When it says she doesn't eat the bread of idleness, I always heard it as - but you, Kitty, are lazy. That's not what it says though! It doesn't say she never rests, never takes a break, but that's how I used to read it.

I think we all really need to remember that success doesn't mean no failures. It doesn't mean things come easily or naturally without effort. And it doesn't mean you go it alone!