Proverbs 31 as a professional woman - Part 17

Dear loyal readers, I trust you’re blessed and highly favoured.

Thank you for joining our continuing discussion about success principle six, which says that Proverbs 31 as a professional woman is “nourished and healthy in spirit, soul and body”.

When you read Proverbs 31:10–31, you get the sense of an excellent woman who has a surrendered heart and who is guided and led by the Lord (Proverbs 3:5-7).

Last week, our discussion focused on the practical approach that Proverbs 31 as a professional woman takes to ensure that her spirit is “nourished and healthy.”

Please read Part 16 for further details on how she manages to fellowship with God – Spirit to spirit.

You’re probably thinking: Why does she fellowship with God – Spirit to spirit?

It starts with her knowing that “whoever is united with the Lord is one with Him in spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:17) and because “God is a Spirit, they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

So, as a born-again Christian who has accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Saviour (John 1:12, John 3:3, 2 Corinthians 5:18), she knows that this gives her a right to become a child of God. Aware that this birth is spiritual and not physical (John 1:13, Romans 8:14-17), she also knows that it is the Spirit of God who testifies with her spirit that she is a child of God (Romans 8:16).

Through Ephesians 2:22 and 1 Corinthians 6:19, she’s aware that God gave her His Holy Spirit and that her body is a temple where God dwells in her through His Spirit.

Meaning that her fellowship with God – in prayer, praise, worship, intercession and doing the Lord’s work in any place where He plants her – starts with a spiritual connection. This relationship is further deepened by her pursuit of His truth (John 14:17) and her knowledge of Him is strengthened by His Spirit (Ephesians 1:17).

When she struggles to love Him (which many people do), she knows that it is His Spirit that fills her up with His love (Romans 5:5).

It all starts and ends with Him.

She knows that she’s a created being (Genesis 1:27), but she chooses to become His child through spiritual adoption (Romans 8:14–17).

As a professional, why does this spiritual connection matter?

Because for God to fulfil the blessings of Genesis 1:28 in her, she needs Him (see Parts 1 to16). She also knows that although he is defeated (Revelations 12:11, Colossians 2:14 and 15, 1 John 3:8), as a child of God, the enemy is at war against her (Revelations 12:17), and she still needs God to fight for her (2 Chronicles 20:15 and 17).

Lastly, she knows that in her professional capacity, she works for the Lord Jesus Christ enthusiastically and not for an earthly master (Colossians 3:23-24 – please read parts one and two for more context).

I remind you that the Israelites whom God saved in Exodus 14 had the presence and the power of God, yet they lacked the desire to build a spiritual connection with Him. This created disastrous results for them.

In the book of Daniel, we get the revelation that his deep spiritual connection to God allowed God to manifest His power, love and mercy in the kingdom of Babylon, which was known for all sorts of wickedness. It’s in that spiritual connection built on Daniel’s firm faith, personal consecration and being filled with the Holy Spirit (Daniel 4:8–9, Daniel 5:11 and 14) that God worked through him to turn the heart of tyrannical King Nebuchadnezzar.

In 1 Samuel 18, King Saul started becoming jealous of David because the Lord was with him and allowed him to succeed in everything he did (verse 14).

So, be aware that God’s presence in your professional life can attract opposition or favour and admiration from others.

The unique success of both Daniel and David is that they consulted God on everything they needed to do, even when it involved correcting a mistake (1 Chronicles 13 and 15). Even though King David made more disastrous mistakes, he is still distinguished by the fact that he had a surrendered and repentant heart that desired the Lord and His Spirit (Psalm 51:10–12).

Jesus Christ, who came to earth as God in human form (John 14:9–11, Colossians 2:9, Philippians 2:6-7), gave up His divine privileges (Philippians 2:8). He was led by the Holy Spirit to stand firm against the enemy’s temptation in Mathew 4 and empowered by Him (through the seven dimensions of God’s power in Isaiah 11:1-3) to fulfil His earthly ministry.

In sum, Proverbs 31 as a professional woman knows that her success is not just based on her technical skill and human knowledge.

Her spiritual connection with God requires her to surrender her work to Him so that He empowers, enables and equips her to be successful in a manner that is divinely inspired and guided (see parts one and two).

Ultimately, her work speaks for itself (Proverbs 31:31).

Shalom.

DISCLAIMER: ‘Proverbs 31 as a Professional Woman’ under the theme ‘Embodying and Manifesting Godly Wisdom, Success Principles and Effortless Femininity in the Workplace’ is not posited on trying to read the professional woman into Proverbs 31 because this will produce an absurd result. However, I have opted to take a principles-based approach that widens the scope to be applicable to any professional woman – regardless of her age or status.

For more context about who I am and why I’m writing this column titled ‘Spirit, Soul and Body’, I encourage you to Google search my previous articles titled ‘A New Season’, ‘Seeing God’s Glory Through My Tears’ as well as ‘Proverbs 31 as a Professional Woman’ (the introduction as well as parts 1 to 16) – all published by the Namibian Sun newspaper. I welcome your comments, inputs, queries or concerns. Kindly address them to [email protected]