The One Attribute of God that Adorns Me in Strength, Fearlessness, Love and Laughter

The Proverbs 31 woman is described as a woman with an impeccable work ethic, a woman devoted to God, her husband, children, and community, a woman who is owed a tremendous amount of respect. She is a woman who is happy, satisfied, accomplished, hard working, fearless, loved, and beautiful - inside and out. When a woman reads about the main character of Proverbs 31, most are inspired. Who doesn't want to be this woman?

There are books, blog posts, and commentaries galore about this particular Proverb and I'm positive that a simple Google search will provide ample information in regards to this woman. My post isn't about that woman, but how I became a woman who is happy, satisfied, fearless, and doubtless in God's love for me. I am a woman who "laughs at the time to come." (Proverbs 31:25)

I am that woman not of my own accord. On the contrary, I am that woman because my Bible is purple. So this post is not at all about me, but what God has revealed about Himself to me and how He worked in my life as a result of that fact.

The one attribute of God that adorns me in strength, fearlessness, love and laughter...

If you have been reading my posts I shared the color code I use to take notes in my Bible. Purple is God's sovereignty. I would be hard pressed to find a page without purple in it. Every page, every line, every word spoken by God Himself points to this one amazing truth: God is in control. And if He is in control, I have nothing to worry about. I can face the future knowing that His purpose will stand, His counsel will not be thwarted, what has been is what will be, what He said will come to pass, for He is God and

"there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it." Isaiah 46:9-11

I am a woman who is clothed in strength, adorned in fearlessness, happiness, and firmly resting in God's love for me - not because of me - but because of God's sovereign hand. God's sovereignty is the very foundation of my strength, satisfaction, fearlessness, happiness, and rest in His sovereign love. 

If passages like Isaiah 45:6-7 are true, then my trust in God should grow resulting in a tremendous amount of fearlessness at what is to come knowing He willed it to happen, therefore I can trust Him,

"I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things."

When I highlight passages like Psalm 104:24-30 in purple, double underlining the verbs clearly illustrating what God did, I am in awe of Him and my trust significantly grows,

When I read passages like Job 34:13-15 and learn of our complete dependence on Him, I become a fearless woman because my very life, my very breath, depends on Him and that brings ultimate comfort,

"Who gave him charge over the earth, and who laid on him the whole world? If he should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust." 

When I meditate on verses like Ecclesiastes 2:14 my soul is at peace, my heart at rest, my mind at ease,

"whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away." 

In other words, God will get an event and show how perfectly it fits within His perfect plan!

When I foolishly agonize over my transgressions, at being dead in my trespasses, at being a child of wrath (Ephesians 2:1-3) knowing that there is nothing a deadman can do but rot, the Holy Spirit wisely sets my gaze on God's sovereign hand in my life filling me with an overwhelming gratitude, relieving me of guilt, reminding me of His sovereign love - knowing that if the very next passage begins with "But GOD" then I can trust that He did the work and will therefore never again be lost. I am instead standing in His grace - His abounding love - and this is not my own doing (2:8) - thank GOD - otherwise I would be eternally lost, living in the passions of my flesh,

And just when I am overwhelmed at God - who He is, what He has done and will do, at things I do not fully understand, I memorize verses like Isaiah 55:8-9, which calms my thoughts and renews my spirit,

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." 

So when I don't understand the events, ideas, and problems of this fallen world, the Holy Spirit brings to mind such comforts, adorning me in strength and satisfaction - not in myself - but in an all-mighty powerful God who holds the stars in the heavens, knows every hair on my head, and who will never, ever fail.

Which is why I laugh at the time to come...
I am fearless because God is in control. I am strong because I have nothing to fear. I am loved because God first loved me. I laugh at the time to come because God is supremely pleased with Himself, and if He is happy in Himself and has given me Himself then I too am extremely happy. God has the right and the ability to do what He wants with what He created (which is everything) and because He cannot and will not fail, because the earth and everything in it was created by His word and all things are sustained by Him, and if what He has purposed will come to pass - for His glory - then I must deduce that He is happy in and of Himself. He does not need me for His happiness, but I desperately need Him for mine. If I rest in His sovereign hand, which gave me Himself, then I know that I can laugh at whatever comes to pass - for He willed it for His glory.

"Our God is in the heavens; he does all that He pleases." Psalm 115:3

And if you do what pleases you, doesn't it make you happy? We should say the same of God after reading verses like that! And if nothing He does can never be undone, or added to, or if nothing can be taken away (Ecclesiastes 2:14) or if He will accomplish His purpose (Isaiah 46:9-11) then He must be supremely happy. Ahhhh... I breathe a contended sigh of relief as I mark yet another verse in purple, the more I mark (which is daily), the more clearly God illustrates His sovereignty - helping me to further trust Him as He fulfills His perfect plan.

I will spend eternity fearlessly in wonder at His glory because of Christ's love, which made me strong in this life; and I will be eternally happy in His presence all because I know - beyond a shadow of a doubt - that God is in control!