Links that make me think: Part 4

When My Soul is Truly At Rest (Emily Freeman):

Asking myself questions that matter are important for my own spiritual growth. But equally important is the tone I use when I ask the questions. I want to cast a hopeful vision, not weigh myself down with despair. When Jesus invited the weary to come to Him in Matthew 11, it was an invitation to wear the light burden of love, not the heavy burden of shame...

Who's Afraid of Proverbs 31? (Hannah at Sometimes a Light):

Proverbs 31 is intended as a blessing and affirmation, not of all women, but of a certain kind of woman: a wise one. Because while Proverbs 31 isn’t prescriptive, it is descriptive. It is designed to tell us the kind of woman who deserves honor and praise. In this sense, the poem is the culmination of an entire book whose main goal is to teach the difference between wisdom and foolishness. But as the beginning and end of Proverbs point out, you don’t become wise via a checklist; you become wise by fearing the Lord...

In the case of Proverbs 31, the poem shows how wisdom embodies itself in feminine form; so that in a beauty only God Himself could conceive, a book written primarily to young men doesn't climax with a description of a mature man but with a description of a mature woman... A wise woman can make a man; and a foolish one can break him...

Wisdom doesn’t come naturally to any of us. Our only hope of being this kind of noble woman comes by looking into the face of the One who is Wisdom Himself and allowing Him to conform us to His own likeness. And when we do, He will make us the fully formed image bearers we are destined to be. He will make us women of kindness and grace and sacrifice and love and joy. He will make us like Himself.

Where Do You Run When You're Empty? (Andrew Lisi):

That place of emptiness is the place where you and I will always be most vulnerable because it's the place where you often don't feel anything and you just want to feel something, even if that's feeling numb.

When you're empty, you will want to fill yourself up. In a world that promises filling only to keep you empty, run toward that which will make you full.