"Her husband trusts her completely, and she brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life."
Proverbs 31:11-12
There's a line in Proverbs 31 that I used to read straight past. Her husband trusts her.
That's it. No speech, no list of achievements. He just trusts her. He doesn't lie awake worrying about how she'll handle the money, the children or the home. His heart is at rest because of who she is.
I want that. I think most of us do. But we don't always want what it costs.
Trust is never demanded. It's earned.
We often wait for people to trust us first, and only then decide to act trustworthy. It works the other way round. Trust starts with you.
A trustworthy woman doesn't need to convince anyone. She doesn't announce it or argue for it. Her ordinary days speak for her: how she spends, how she speaks, whether she does what she said she'd do.
Think about lending something you love to a friend. If she gives it back quickly, you'd lend her anything. If you have to chase her for it, you quietly decide never to lend her anything again. Neither of you says a word, but trust has been decided.
Maturity is the missing piece
Scripture talks about women of God, not girls of God. When you truly meet Him, you grow up. You can't stay the same.
Maturity means you stop living by impulse. You don't speak just because you feel something, or spend just because you want something. You stop and ask where this leads.
That's why the woman in Proverbs 31 thinks ahead. She plans and she saves. She isn't anxious about the future because she's been preparing for it (Proverbs 31:21, 25). Her family doesn't go without when hard times come.
We live in a culture built to keep women spending and never satisfied. A wardrobe full of clothes still has "nothing to wear". A mature woman sees through that. She isn't easily led, because she thinks for herself. When you don't think for yourself, someone else will do it for you.
Faithful with little
Jesus said that whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much (Luke 16:10).
We want the big calling. God is watching how we handle the small one. That means the meal no one thanks you for, the promise to your child, and the message you said you'd reply to.
Some things in your life only you can do. Nobody else can do them for you:
◆Look after your body. You can't serve anyone well if you've run yourself into the ground.
◆Look after your spirit. Pray, open the Word, and keep your heart clean. Faith that isn't fed fades.
◆Give first. Don't wait to receive before you pour out.
◆Be who God made you. A copy of someone else is always cheaper than the original.
◆Honour the roles you've been given. Wife, mother, daughter, homemaker. These are yours. Do them well.
Another woman could do your job. No other woman can be his wife or their mother. If you can't be trusted at home, what is it worth being trusted anywhere else?
Mary said yes
Mary was young and not yet married when the angel came. Saying yes could have cost her everything: her reputation, her marriage, even her life.
She didn't ask for the full plan. She said, "I am the Lord's servant. Let it happen to me as you have said" (Luke 1:38).
She wasn't trusted because she was ready. She was trusted because she trusted Him. God gave His Son to a woman who gave Him her whole life.
That's where maturity really begins. You stop leaning on your own strength and start trusting God with your problems, your fears and your future. Then He can trust you with more.
Sit with this
◆Can I be trusted in this season of my life? Why, or why not?
◆Who trusts me right now?
◆What small thing have I been careless with?
◆What can I start doing this week to be more trustworthy?
◆And does God trust me with what He's already given me?
She's trusted, not because she's perfect, but because she's faithful. That can be you.