“(She)…works with eager hands….Honor her for all that her hands have done.”
– Proverbs 31:13, 31
It was around the time I had my third child that I went to see a dermatologist. It was due to a rash, origin unknown, on my right hand. I shared with the doctor how I used my hands during the day: handling wet diapers, washing dishes, scrubbing toilets, floors…. The constant interaction of my hands with water and cleaning agents every day made it hard for her to determine the cause of my condition. I was prescribed reasonably safe medication and applied it as necessary. Within a year or so, the affliction was gone, but I never discovered where this had come from.
When we labor with our hands, it is our way of demonstrating how intimate we are with the work we do. When we care for a child, wash dishes, play an instrument, or craft a story, picture or object, we are using our hands to express to others what we think, feel, or imagine, or even love. Our thoughts, feelings, and creative ideas come from our minds and through our hands, making visible what is invisible. When we perform work, God moves energy through our bodies and out through our arms and hands. This is an exhausting yet fruitful and fulfilling process that is often repeated, because it brings so much pleasure to work in our fields of personal interest.
Proverbs 31 describes the ideal virtuous woman, yet also is a chapter painting a picture of what wisdom looks like to God. This chapter has wisdom taking on the form of “a wife of noble character” (verse 10, ESV). In this case, wisdom is a woman who is willing to work using the hands God gave her. The Lord is reminding us (not just women, but all of us) to be eager to work diligently with our hands, because it is a wise decision to make. Wisdom, which is applying our knowledge to create better experiences for ourselves in the future, benefits us in the end, and produces outcomes in our favor. Jeremiah reminds us that the Lord has good plans in mind for us (29:11), and James points out that every good and perfect gift comes from Him (1:17).
So, in light of these things, pray that you would receive God’s perfect gift of wisdom, that you would make use of your hands in ways that honor Him, and that you would persevere in the good work God has assigned for you to do. And thank Him often for the ways in which we are blessed, because we are, and the ways are plentiful.
