Action step #3: Debunk the myths
Where do our unrealistic “do-it-all” expectations come from? I’m sure some of you are thinking I’m nuts for asking that question! (You mean other than every movie, TV show or social media post implying we should be Superwoman?)
We have to debunk the myths of our culture—and even from a biblical misunderstanding. I used to feel overwhelmed by the Proverbs 31 woman. She did everything: she made food, purchased fields, generated profits, stayed up late, got up early, served the poor, ran her household—all while her husband and community praised her! Whoa. This lady might give us a complex if we let her!
But we need to see just what this woman is meant to teach us—and what she isn’t. Here’s what I wrote in my 60-day devotional, Find Rest:
It is very easy to feel inferior with this snapshot of womanhood taped to my mirror, calling me to look like this someday.
But the Proverbs 31 woman is not a real woman! This is not Mary or Elizabeth or Rachel. This is not a portrait of an actual woman at some ultimate moment in time when she “has it all together.” Proverbs 31 is a big-picture view of the life of a woman of noble character— not a description of someone who does all these things perfectly, all at once.
This archetypal character does a lot—but not all at the same time. Rather, she is being described over “all the days of her life.” (Verse 12). And—very important to point out—she also had servants to do a lot of the work!
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