Day 9 (18)"She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night”

Day 9 (18)"She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night”

I love this verse, it is so affirming to me. I'm absolutely serious.

This is a verse concerning self-esteem, a woman who has the

perception that what she offers is good and has worth.

And the next part? You could interpret it on a literal level:

that the candle she produced was exceptional. But, I looked

at this somewhat differently, the candle often being

representative of a person's spirit, her spirit was not

extinguished by the darkness of negativity.

This woman has a sense of herself. Such a sense

comes from the light of her eye; read Matthew 6:22,

" The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be

single, thy whole body shall be full of light."

To “perceive” means to know from

experience. It literally means

“to taste.” She knew that her

merchandise was good because she had tasted it,

sampled it, experienced it.

“Merchandise” in this verse means

something from which she profited.

This is yet another reference to the business

that she operated. She didn’t just dabble in

this business; rather, she poured her life

into it so that it actually earned money for

her and her family. She “tasted” and

“experienced” these profits. Her

merchandise was profitable and good.

The verse states that “her candle

goeth not out by night.” Stop here!

This cannot possibly mean that she

never went to bed at night.

Nor can this mean that she went to

bed late and got up early (see verse 15),

getting very little sleep. This can’t be,

because it contradicts other portions

of God’s Word.

As in Verse 15 We see God has an important

purpose to getting enough sleep.

She has a lot to accomplish.

Light and Dark

As we take a glimpse of the dawn of time, when God made

a beautiful and perfect world, we are amazed at the handiwork

we see. I’m not a scientist, but the more I read and the more

I discover about creation, the more amazed I become.

In this article, we’re going to look at just a handful

of ways that our God designed this world for our good.

We don’t have time to look at all of them, and we

don’t even know everything about our world.

I encourage you to continue to discover more things

on your own and to share them with loved ones around you.

Let There Be Light

The very first thing God made, recorded in Genesis,

is light.

“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God

divided the light from the darkness. And God called

the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.

And the evening and the morning were the first day."

(Genesis 1:3-5)

On the fourth day, we read about the forms that this light

took, at least as we can see it from our homes here on

planet Earth.

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament

of the heaven to divide the day from the night;

and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days,

and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament

of the heaven to give light upon the earth:

and it was so. And God made two great lights;

the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser

light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

And God set them in the firmament of the heaven

to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day

and over the night, and to divide the light from the

darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the

evening and the morning were the fourth day."

(Genesis 1:14-19)

We know God made lights in the sky that would divide

the day from the night. The sun is an obvious example of

a light that tells us it is daytime. The moon and stars are

seen best at night. The Bible calls the sun a “greater light”

and the moon a “lesser light.” Any elementary school child

understands how the moon reflects the light of the sun,

and even toddlers enjoy the stars and twinkling

lights of the

evening sky.

God lists several

purposes for

making

these lights.

First

of all, he

wanted

to divide

the day

from the night.

Secondly, he wanted

us to be aware of

time and schedules. The sun, moon, and stars have been

used since the

beginning even to make calendars filled with days, weeks,

months, and

years. The seasons are obvious by the singing of birds

or by leaves

falling off trees, but even in climates where the

weather stays the same,

we know the season by the position of constellations

in the sky.

So God set the heavenly lights in the sky to give

us light, to

“rule” over the day and the night, and to divide

the light from

the dark.

Over 6,000 years later, I can turn on all

the electric lights,

watch TV, surf the Internet, and even shop

– 24 hours a day.

Every morning, the sun still wakes up, earlier

in the summer

than it does in the winter, but it still rises predictably,

consistently, quietly. Depending on what time I went to

bed last night, I might not be aware that it rose.

Or I might notice but I’m disgusted at how early it

comes up. Doesn’t it know I need more sleep? more

dark? more quiet?

Deep inside my brain, God created a tiny gland called the

pineal gland. This tiny gland, about the size of a pea,

is responsible for producing a hormone called melatonin.

Darkness stimulates the production of melatonin,

and light tells it to stop. Melatonin is a powerful

hormone that directs our circadian rhythms and even

orchestrates our sexual development.

The retina of the eye receives light and transmits

the signals from that light to the pineal gland.

The patterns of daylight and darkness received by

the pineal gland orchestrate the production

of proper amounts of melatonin.

God said in Genesis 1 that each new day began with evening.

The Jews continue to observe this today by beginning each

day at sundown. Perhaps the custom of starting a new day

at night tells us something of the importance of darkness?

One of the purposes of melatonin is to regulate our days

and nights. Halfway through the night, melatonin

production

peaks, gradually falling toward dawn. Until very

recently,

in many parts of the world we would have

experienced up to

18 hours of darkness in the winter months.

Now that we’ve

become “civilized” with the invention of bright,

artificial lights,

we may only have eight or fewer hours of

darkness a night.

Night lights, bright alarm clocks, and yard

lights have all

been shown to diminish the production of

melatonin in our brains

at night.

Exposure to bright light at night, enjoyed by those

that work the night shift, has been implicated in disorders such

as cancer. Sitting in front of flashing television screens,

turning on bright lights to use the bathroom at 2 a.m. –

all of these things upset the production of melatonin in

our pineal glands.

Melatonin has many uses, beginning with the oversight

of our

metabolism. Young children produce more melatonin

than adults,

making scientists think that it plays a role in postponing

sexual development. Melatonin is a powerful anti-oxidant,

and it has been shown helpful in reducing the damage caused

by some types of Parkinson’s disease, in strengthening the

immune system, in preventing migraine headaches, and in

helping the heart beat properly. It has even been shown to

help mice live longer! Melatonin helps us dream properly,

which has been shown to keep us from going insane.

It may seem strange to begin our discussion of health

by looking at a tiny, pea-sized gland in our brains,

but it makes so much sense to begin rebuilding our

health by such a simple means. Here are some steps

you can take to allow God’s sun, moon, and stars to

rule over your

days and nights:

Turn off the

television

after dark. Don’t

watch TV in bed.

The same goes for

your computer.

Keep the bright,

flashing lights

confined

to the hours

when the

“sun rules the day.”

Go to sleep as soon

as possible after dark.

Did you know that

your body recharges

itself most between the hours of 11 p.m. and 1 a.m.?

Your adrenal

glands use

those night-time hours to heal and refresh from

the stresses of the day

. Your liver dumps toxins at night, but if you’re awake,

those toxins

will simply clog up the rest of your body, causing

much damage to

all your internal organs.

Sleep in total darkness. If you happen to live in a rural

area where the only outside light is from the moon

and stars,

you can feel free to open your curtains and let the

moonlight in.

The bright moonlight that comes every month has

been shown

to increase a woman’s fertility and to optimize

dreaming.

Sounds dreamy, doesn’t it? If you live in the

city or by

bright lights, use heavy blinds to block the

light. You

can even sleep with an eye mask to block

out light.

If you wake up to use the bathroom at

night, try keeping

the lights off. Did you know that if you

switch on a bright

light in your bathroom, you’ll turn off

melatonin production

in your brain for the remainder of that night?

A wiser course

of action would be to clean up your hallway of toy

s and clutter

and try walking in near darkness (or moonlight)

to the bathroom.

Increase your exposure to sunshine during daylight hours.

We have been taught to be afraid of the sun, yet God made

the sun for our benefit. Are you sleepy after lunch?

Try napping in your backyard. Work in your flower

beds early in the morning, as the birds are singing

and the sun is rising. Read your Bible next to a big

window each morning. Enjoy walks and picnics with

your family.

The production of melatonin in the pineal gland goes on

to affect the production of almost every hormone in the

human body. If you struggle with hormone problems

affecting your thyroid gland, your adrenal glands

(cortisol, DHEA, adrenaline, and others), your pancreas

(insulin and enzyme production), or your sexual gland

s (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and others),

please take into account your sleep habits first.

Many people attempt to simply supplement with

over-the-counter melatonin rather than change

their lifestyles. I would advise you to save your

money and try our Creator God’s method of light

and darkness first. Over-the-counter supplements

can be very powerful, and how will you know that

you are “supplementing” the correct amounts?

The God who made us loves us... and His first way

of showing that love was to give us light and dark.

Verses to Ponder:

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep:

for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.

(Psalm 4:8)

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved:

he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold,

he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber

nor sleep. (Psalm 121:3-4)

It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late,

to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth

his beloved sleep. (Psalm 127:2)

When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea,

thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

(Proverbs 3:24)

The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he

eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich

will not suffer him to sleep. (Ecclesiastes 5:12)

Rather then she is skipping on sleep in this

verse, the idea here is that her merchandise

was of such high quality that it would last.

The picture in the Hebrew words is that her

light doesn’t get extinguished in the middle

of adversity. Her stuff is built to last! She

knows who her light is and won't let her light

and example be extinguished . Again we see

that a spirit of excellence pervades all that

she does.

So let’s summarize this woman’s business:

She has experienced the profit of her labor.

She sees real profit to others

(her family and others) from her efforts.

She sticks with it. She’s not a quitter.

She doesn’t put others at risk because of

her negligence.

Let’s get practical

How does

this affect

us in our

homes,

as godly

wives and

mothers (and possibly, as business women ourselves)?

Start at home, in the small things.His lord said

unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful

servant: thou hast been faithful over a few

things, I will make thee ruler over many

things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

(Matthew 25:21). How faithful are you

in house cleaning, laundry, parenting,

keeping promises to others, managing

your time, reading your Scriptures daily?

Discipline yourself. Excellence starts in

the details, but sometimes the details get

overwhelming. Make a to-do list, and

discipline yourself to cross off items

as you do them. Don’t allow procrastination

in yourself. (One friend shared that she

takes her to-do list to Heavenly Father

in prayer each morning, asking Him

what He wants from her time. Then

she makes sure to be obedient, since

her “marching orders” are from

the King of Kings!)

Find out what would bless others. We are

to be governed by the law of doing unto others

what we would want them do to us. We are to

love others as ourselves. Our excellence is not

to make ourselves proud; rather, it is an act of

selflessness for others. To do this, ask questions

of others. Be a good listener. What problems

could we solve by our abilities? What answers

can we give them from God’s Word? How can

our actions leave others with a taste of

God’s love?

Evaluate regularly. The Bible says that

we are to know the condition of our flocks

(Proverbs 27:23). Do you allow time in

your schedule periodically for getting

away and prayerfully evaluating your work?

Know your limits. Do you know when

to stop working? Don’t take on more

than you can really do well. I like the

law in God’s Word about putting a

balcony around your rooftop so that

others won’t accidentally fall off.

Our time and energy need a balcony,

a boundary, as well. Why?

For our own good? Not entirely.

When you do too much, you harm

others by your broken promises.

You could cause hurt to someone

else, and now your lack of discipline

has overflown into hurt to others.

We also can be a Proverbs 31 woman

as we strive to be excellent in all we do.

we must always operate with a spirit of excellence.

As believers

in our precious Savior, we must not live our lives in

a slip-shod manner,

as if what we do doesn’t really matter.

Why does excellence matter?

We are created in the image of a Creator God.

Everything He created

was “very good,” and we need to imitate Him

in our actions.

We need to follow the example of those who

are God’s servants.

If Heavenly Father thought that someone’s story

was important

enough to record for us

in the scriptures, then we need to ask why.

Our everyday work should be offered as an act

of worship to

our God. Every sacrifice to God is to be the best

we have to

offer. "I beseech you therefore, brethren,

by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living

sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your

reasonable service." ( Romans 12:1)

The world is watching us. Our actions reflect upon our God.

His honor and reputation are at stake in our work.

In our verse from Proverbs 31 today, we learn that she

operated with a high

standard of excellence.That is what we must do....

The Proverbs Woman

has set the example before us...now let us go and do.