The Church and Proverbs 31 (Part 5)

Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. (Proverbs 31:25)

This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:32)

This is one verse that is so far away from what the modern Western church is like. We are terrified of the time to come. We have little to no trust in what God can do for us, whether it be in having children, in missions, in praying for the lost (especially lost loved ones), or even in terms of the end of days. We do not laugh at the future. We are too busy worrying about it.

I’m going overseas on November 5th. It’s interesting to see how different people react to the idea. Some people think it’s exciting. Others think it’s terrifying. One person I know tells me every time we talk about it how terribly brave I am, and how he could never do it, on and on until I want to smack the poor fellow. He’s not the only one who feels that way – not even the only Christian who feels that way. The thing is, they can’t trust that no matter what, God will take care of me. Sure, it may not always be the way I want to be taken care of, but the care is there all the same.

Wealth has not been good for the church. We worry too much about losing it. I know I worry all the time about how little money I have in my bank account now that I’ve paid for my air fare. And when all this worry from every church member is combined it can become paralysing. We need to go back to not worrying about how things will turn out. We know the ending anyway. God wins. And because He wins, we can laugh at the future, as individuals, and as a church.