A Biblical Woman is Generous and Sharing

by Bekki Buckley

“She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar. She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens.” -Proverbs 31:14-15

Of all the things to which women might be compared, a merchant ship is rarely at the top of anyone’s list! However, it was the merchant ship that went to great lengths to bring exotic goods from foreign lands. Like the merchant ship that braves challenging seas to carry its goods “from afar,” so too does the Proverbs 31 woman. She resists any urge towards laziness rising “while it is yet night” to provide for her family.

The result of her hard work is not meagerness but over-abundant provision for her family and beyond. Her family is the beneficiary of her hard work, but so are those beyond her family. She does not keep what God has provided to herself or her family but generously shares it with her “maidens.”

Thinking beyond the Proverbs 31 woman and her hard work, we must remember God is the ultimate provider. In scripture, God sent food from

heaven to the Israelites while they were leaving Egypt. He wanted them to know that he would fill their hunger when nothing else would. This bread of heaven was called manna. Manna certainly qualifies as “food from afar.” In John 6:32-33, Jesus says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Jesus Himself is the “food from afar” that God sent to the world to satisfy their hunger. His followers then are the ones who get to bring this good news to those who are hungry.

Looking through the lens of the New Testament, a Proverbs 31 woman is one who is first filled with Jesus, our heavenly food from afar. Then she is one who works hard to provide for those around her. Her identity is in Jesus’ work on her behalf, and the result is hard work in response. In her selfless acts of giving these provisions away, she learns that this Bread of Heaven is more endless than the sea she has been sent to travel upon. What a joy it is for her, as well as those around her, when she obediently goes where she is sent. She is able to give what she has been filled with, only to realize the miracle that occurs as this “food from afar” never runs out.

Journaling Page on Generosity

Who has God placed in your path to share Himself with?

What attitude does it seem like this woman has as she provides for others?

Other thoughts and scriptures about generosity: