Debra Valentin
& Women of Worth

Not too long ago, a colleague at the office spotted my Women of Worth embroidered thermal lunch tote that I had brought to work that day. With pouted lips and a furrowed brow, she looked at me and said “aww…cute” in quite a condescending tone. I think she even shook her head and added, “tsk, tsk.” I must admit, it bothered me – it really did, but I didn’t know why. Finally, the answer came to me. There’s nothing “cute” about being a woman of worth.

Perhaps my WOW lunch tote, WOW T-shirt and WOW rhinestone bracelet can be described as “cute”. Our WOW annual celebration brunches, chalkboard heart-shaped party favors, and flowery marketing materials may be considered “cute”. But a woman of worth is far from cute. She is more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37). Were the two midwives named Shiphrah and Puah in Exodus chapter 1 “cute” when they told the Pharaoh, the king of the Egyptian empire, that they had disobeyed his command and did not kill the newborn Hebrew baby boys (v. 15-21)? No, they feared God more than man. Was Deborah, a prophetess and judge, “cute” when she led an Israelite army of 10,000 men into a victorious battle because Barak refused to obey God at His word and go without her (Judges 4:4-16)? No, Deborah rose up, and commanded others to do the same, to the glory of God. Was a teenage girl named Mary “cute” when she responded to the angel Gabriel by saying, “I am your maidservant. Let it be to me according to your word” – knowing full well that there would be those who would not believe that the child she carried had been conceived by the Holy Spirit and that because she was not yet married, they had the legal right to stone her to death (Luke 1:26-38)? No, Mary surrendered her will to the will of the Father, no matter the cost. Was there anything “cute” at all about a smelly, infirmed, unclean, rejected woman who pressed through the multitudes to touch the hem of Messiah’s garment because she knew, that she knew, that she knew, that by doing so she would be healed of 12 long, painful years of bleeding (Luke 8:43-47)? No, this woman of worth set her face like flint and pursued Jesus, in spite of what the doctors, religious leaders and the law said - and thus she experienced dunamis, supernatural healing power of God!

My sister, it is my prayer that like these women of worth, you will fear God more than man, rise up and command other to do the same, surrender your will to the Father no matter what the cost, and pursue Jesus in spite of what others may say - even if they call you “cute”!

If there is anything that brings joy to a mother's heart it is seeing her children do well and hearing them speak well of her. One such mother is known as the Proverbs 31 woman whose children rise up and call her blessed (v. 28). But there is another mother spoken of in Proverbs 31.

In verses 1-9 King Lemuel records the wisdom taught by his mother while he was a prince.

Lemuel could have been the pet name by which King Solomon's mother called him or he could have been a king from a neighboring country whose mother was a daughter of Israel. But whoever King Lemuel was, he had a mother who was willing to rise up - and she expected her son to do the same. She opened her mouth against immoral ways that desired to destroy her son and she instilled in him a sense of duty to speak on behalf of those who cannot speak up for themselves.

This portion of Scripture does not refer to King Lemuel's father, nor does it tell us if he had taught his son these truths. But it is evident that this Proverbs 31 woman, this mother of a king, realized that someone had to do it - and so she did.

It is my prayer that whether you are a spiritual or biological mother, you will open your mouth for what is right. You will seek God for the wisdom and the courage to speak to the children in your life. When you rise up, your children will rise up and call you blessed.

I encourage you to take a moment today to invite Jesus into your situation. Maybe you feel as if you're in a lonely place or running from your past - but you may find that to your surprise, the Lord is there.

In Genesis 27-28 we read of how Jacob was running from his older brother, Esau, who sought to take Jacob's life for deceiving their dying father and stealing Esau's firstborn blessing. As Jacob fled to Haran, he got to a place where he could no longer run. All by himself, in the middle of no where, Jacob laid down to rest, with a stone as a pillow. While Jacob was asleep, God revealed to him a most unusual ladder, in that very place. The bottom of the ladder touched earth and the top reached heaven - and there were angels ascending and descending upon it. God spoke to Jacob there and promised to give him that land, to bless his descendants, to be with him wherever he goes and to bring him back to that place.

Till that point in his life, Jacob sought the blessing of God to get what he wanted. But after encountering the God who gives the blessing, Jacob had a change of heart. He said, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it" (Gen 28:16).

It is my prayer that wherever you journey today, you will stop and feel God's presence along the way. Even if your day does not go as you had planned, I believe that you will have an encounter with God and say, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it."