CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE

Author: Beth Jessup

Write something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview.

​In God’s Word, we have a great example of a lady who had influence with several people. Have you ever thought of those you influence? The Proverbs 31 lady influenced one of the most important people in her life, her husband. In verse 11 and 12, this virtuous woman had great influence with her husband. “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.” I do not think most of us wives realize how much we influence our husbands. I have heard my husband say, “I am a better Christian when my wife is with me.” My husband and I have always tried to do things together as much as possible. Most of our visitation is done together. Even with five children growing up in our home, we got a babysitter or traded off with another couple in our church to go visiting at different times. We do not have “date nights” because we are out quite a lot together. We find in verses 12 through 14 and verse 16 that this lady wanted to buy the very best for her family. Whether it was purchasing the finest fabric for clothing or “food from afar,” she wanted to know her family was getting the best attention she could give them. In verse 15 we find her getting up early to feed and care for her family and also taking care of her maidens. She surely had a significant influence on those who worked for her in her home.

This lady took excellent care of herself in verse 17. We notice that she was conscious of how she felt. She had to keep herself fit in order to take care of all those around her. We all know how it is; we are usually the first one up in the morning and the last to get into bed at night. And after all this time, we are as tired as can be and wonder how much longer we can keep going and the next morning the same thing happens again. I remember those days doing my part to help train our five children. It truly is a lot of hard work. As we see this lady doing so much for her family, we also see her passion for helping the poor. “Yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy…” (v. 20) She found time in all her busy life to make a meal or make a piece of clothing or who knows how much she did for others, but her influence covered a lot of people. My daughter was just saying to me that she is involved in so much at her church that she was going to have to give up something. She told her friend about this, and her friend said, “Oh, please don’t tell my daughters! They think you are marvelous with all that you do.” She said that really made her realize her influence on these young girls that they thought so much of her involvement at the church. Whom are we influencing?
 
In verse 21, “She is not afraid of the snow for her household; for all her household are clothed with scarlet.” I have heard of this referring to the salvation of her household. She did not worry because she trusted the Lord for the care of her family. They are “clothed with scarlet,” with the blood of Jesus Christ. She did not need to worry. When I was in college, I heard a speaker say, “Safety is not the absence of danger, but the presence of God.” The Proverbs 31 This lady walked with God daily! She is found in verse 22 as a woman who always looked her very best! Again, in the next verse, she has taken good care of her husband, and he is “known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.” “Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.” She did not have to worry about how she looked to others. She was confident that she was doing her best as she served the Lord, her family, and others. This is followed by verse 26 which speaks of her wisdom. It seems that she was careful of how she spoke to others. “And in her tongue was the law of kindness.” She thought before she spoke. Whom are we influencing with our tongue? As we come to the end of this chapter in Proverbs, we can clearly see that she used her time wisely and there was no time for idleness in her life. Each of us can certainly learn a lot from this chapter in God’s Word. She influenced her children; they called her “blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.” In verse 29, King Lemuel gave her a wonderful compliment, which I am sure she was not expecting. “Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.” God is looking for servants with love and the ability to work hard to try to do their best for Him with an influence that will help family, friends or others. We can all do our best to be a good influence. A Sunday school teacher, bus worker, deacon’s wife, pastor’s wife, a mother or whoever we are, realize we influence someone! We never know who is watching us. Let us do our very best every day God gives us!! “Favour is deceitful and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.” Proverbs 31:30-31