What is the measure of a woman’s worth?

Women’s Day means it’s time to sing the praises of South African women and no one can deny that we have pretty impressive score cards to show. The modern woman has to fit in work, running the house, raising children with love, care and interest while making her husband feel like a king AND looking like the queen.

Isn’t it strange though, that even with the impressive load a woman manages to squeeze into a day, she still feels like she’s not cutting it? As if giving EVERYTHING YOU HAVE is simply not enough.

The never-ending checklists even seem to pop up in the place where we’re supposed to uncover our true identity. Doesn’t the Proverbs 31 woman have a few boxes to check so she can earn her status as super woman?

Today I want to assure that your worth outweighs all the jewels in the world. And even if you did nothing, NOT ONE THING for the rest of your life, but breathe, this would not change one bit. That’s because your worth is not settled in what you manage to make in your life, but in the One that made you!

Your worth is beyond measure, not because of everything you do, but what Jesus does through you. Nestled inside you, written on the fibres of your being and weaved into your heart is a beauty that no brand of make-up can recreate, no magazine cover can match; Hollywood casting crews will spend eons but find no equal. It is the heart of the Father and it’s the story you tell every time you open your heart to love. It’s the perfume you release into the air every time you relate, engage, encourage a friend or ignite a smile. It’s the masterpiece you create every time you unite, affirm, fulfill, inspire, forgive and forget.

Proverbs 31 doesn’t necessarily prescribe something you should become, it reflects who you already are. A symbol of the sacrificial heart of Jesus. The One who loved so much that He gave up EVERYTHING HE HAD for His people. This time, it was enough!

These are things that come naturally to a woman, but with all our energy poured into what we’re supposed to do, there’s little strength left to live out those qualities.

I love the quote by somebody special that goes: “Sometimes sleeping is the most spiritual thing you can do.” That’s because we are body, soul and spirit rolled into one and none of them can function well if another isn’t on top of its game. Even Jesus in His earthly body got tired to the point where He just had to get away from it all and rest. So if the ultimate human needs AND TAKES rest, why should we be any different? Jesus even managed to doze off while His boat was dancing to the tune of a storm.

He knew that His Father was far more powerful than the threat that surrounded them, and therefore He could rest nevertheless.

I’m not sure what the storms you face today look like. But your Father does. He knows how to still them too. Even if it’s just the hurricane in your head that He calms while He works out the rest of the details for your good.

My prayer for women around the world is that we’ll find rest in the arms of the One on whose shoulders our worth rests.

If it’s yours too, all you have to do, is tell Him so:

Father, thank you that Your yoke is light and soft and that You desperately want to exchange it for mine. Forgive me for thinking it’s all up to me and come and show me that by stepping back for a change, I’m actually activating my full strength. Come and prove to my weary heart that my strength and my worth are rooted in You alone. That it’s not something I need to work for, achieve or earn. I come to lay my to-do list at Your feet. Please help me identify the things I do for approval and trade it for the list of everything I AM in You. In Jesus’s name, Amen.