Jo Saxton

Recently I was reading Proverbs 31 and quite frankly my response was to feel very inadequate!  I felt I was okay at managing my household and I sometimes gave to the poor.  However, I certainly wasn’t at all of the calibre to be buying, selling, trading or doing anything else in the high flying, executive business world!! 

However, as I considered this passage more deeply, I realised that it wasn’t there to crush or diminish me.  As a woman the temptation can be to compare myself unfavourably with others, to put myself down and always to think ‘I can’t…’.   

At the same time, someone spoke into mine and my husband’s lives about ‘Calling’ – what and who was it that we were called to (long, medium and short-term)?  We looked back over words that people had spoken over us; thought about what we were good and gifted at, recognised where we had seen fruit, and thought about what we enjoyed doing.  The Parable of the Talents came to mind (Matt 25:14-30).  I had been given certain gifts/talents and I needed to use them well and wisely, or eventually they would be taken from me.  Presuming I was submitted to the Lord, and once I felt I was happy that my household was running pretty smoothly, what ‘field’ did God want me to get hold of?  What vineyard was I going to plant?  What fruit would I produce?

Maybe this was the encouragement that I needed to step out of my comfort zone, in my case to look seriously into that tiny business venture that I had been thinking might both be quite fun and also a marvellous evangelistic opportunity.

Reflect

When reading this passage, women may come to mind who you think are great examples of a godly wife.  The challenge is to be inspired and not intimidated by them!  The important thing to realise is that they have different callings and giftings to those which you have been given, but you can be encouraged and spurred on by their example.

God has put great and unique things into each of our lives.  We need to have faith to step out and use those gifts.  I continually try to ask myself in any situation, ‘What is God saying to me?’  Of course, we then need to follow through!  So the second question is, ‘What am I going to do about it?’ 

So, what is God saying to you about your ‘Calling’?

What are you going to do about what you are hearing from Him?

Make sure you process through your responses with a trusted friend.