Laughing Without Fear of the Future

 By: Rebekah Hargraves

Photo Courtesy Of: Priscilla Du Preez

"She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future."

~Proverbs 31:25

We have walked through a hundred and one crazy situations over the past few years, haven’t we? We’ve endured a pandemic and all that has gone along with that. We endured a nasty election year. We’re walking through life with a new administration that some people love and some people can’t stand. We’ve gone through social unrest that still permeates many circles. We have seen a pastor be jailed in Canada. People have lost their jobs and their loved ones. Believers are fighting each other on social media about the smallest of things. Dreams have been dashed. It’s been hard!

But, guess what?

This is where our theology comes in! This is why we have to know our Bibles. This is why I encourage women to make Bible study a daily priority and growing in Bible literacy a life-long goal.

Because, ultimately, our faith isn’t just for the good and easy times. It’s particularly for the hard times, when we most desperately need hope the most!

The Proverbs 31 woman can smile without fear of the future not because her life is easy, but because she knows her God.

Which means the same is possible for us!

This doesn’t at all mean that we don’t take time to grieve the hard. But it absolutely does mean that we do not grieve as those with no hope. And it means that we don’t stay forever in our grief. It means that at some point we put feet to the faith we claim to have and actually walk it out. It means showing the watching world that there is hope within us that they can then ask about.

If we as believers want to make a change for good in these times, we are going to have to act as if our faith actually means something, as if what we say we believe is actually true, that our God is actually as good and as trustworthy and as sovereign as we say He is. Because He truly is. And because of our faith in that fact, we, too, can smile without fear at the future! 

Reflection Questions:

1) Are you smiling without fear of the future?

2) If not, why not? What is holding you back from being able to?

3) If so, how can you share the hope you have with others who also need that same hope?

from Woman to Woman
Umn ministry