SHE 31 - Woman Of ValourSample

Our Proverbs 31 woman swims against the tide. She doesn’t comply with the social norm. She isn’t like everything else. She’s not a carbon copy. She isn’t trying to be anyone else - she is beautifully herself. 

Consider: Only dead fish swim downstream

Let’s talk about salmon for a moment. Yes, you heard right, salmon. Salmon swim upstream to spawn. They swim against the tide, against what feels easy. If they don’t swim upstream they don’t find their spawning place and therefore can’t reproduce. Once they’ve spawned, they die, float downstream and the salmon life cycle starts again. Only dead salmon are seen going downstream. 

Our Proverbs 31 woman is like the salmon, swimming upstream. Verse 18 tells us that “her lamp burns late into the night”. At the time that the book of Proverbs was written, this wasn’t common place. Not everyone was able to keep a lamp burning. But the writer makes a point of telling us that this woman can. She swims against the tide of having a lack of resources and is swimming upstream in her work ethic, in her finances, in her attitude and in her character. 

Context: Why bother?

We are called to be salt and light. We are called to stand out and be different. We are called to be Jesus to those that God has placed around us. We can be like salmon swimming upstream - this is the harder option. It will requires more from us. It will take hard work, determination and commitment. It will hurt and it will cost us. But just like the salmon spawn and create new life, by swimming upstream we’ll be leaving a powerful legacy that will continue long after our days on earth are over. Or we could be like dead fish being pulled downstream with the tide. We can fit in and be like everyone else. We can take the easy option, conserve our energy and let the tide pull us down with it. The ride may be easy but we’ll have no legacy to leave.

Over to you: Ask yourself…..

• Are you a salmon or a dead fish? Are you swimming upstream or being pulled down with the tide?


• What legacy are you leaving?


• What three things can you commit to do this week in order to start (or continue) swimming upstream?