Clothed in Strength and Dignity

I have been doing a study on the Proverbs 31 woman. You know... "a wife of noble character... worth far more than rubies...a woman who fears the Lord". There are so many traits that this woman had that are worth striving for. She was strong, an eager worker, creative, a profitable business woman, praiseworthy, and so much more. I have really enjoyed studying this passage. And with each lesson I have found myself wondering how or if I display these qualities in my own life. Obviously, I have found plenty of room to grow in each area displayed by this gem of a woman. And then I came to verse 25... and the room to grow became exponential...

"She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come."

"Laughing at the days to come" isn't exactly my specialty... in fact I typically panic dwell on try to control worry about the days to come. {even when it comes to the little things... like what I'm going to wear to the grocery store, ha!} Especially lately... between thinking about moving to Chicago, trying to find just the right apartment, leaving the job I loved, leaving friends and family and the comforts of a town we knew, moving to a huge city, etc., laughing at the days to come hasn't been easy. And I would definitely say I have not been "clothed in strength and dignity". More like clothed in worry and uncertainty. So needless to say, I have some work to do with the whole laughing at the days to come and being clothed in strength and dignity thing. I am learning it does no good to worry or dwell on what is to come... this life is not my own to start with! So I still have a long ways to go, but letting go and letting God has proved to make life quite a bit less stressful and quite a bit more joyful. And maybe if I quit dwelling on the worries I have,  I can work on a few of those other desirable qualities displayed by the Proverbs 31 woman. I'm pretty sure I should start with putting my fear in the Lord instead of the unknown. Praise God for the beautiful picture painted in Proverbs 31 and for the outline given for how to become a woman of noble character!