The Power of a Working Wife

 

It is generally believed that a man is supposed to be the breadwinner of his home and the primary and only financial source for the family. Although there seems to be a shift in this mindset owing to the economy of the world we live in today, let’s just look into this situation holistically. This is necessary for wives who believe that they do not have any business working to earn income or provide financial support in the home with their personal income.

Let’s start with what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 3:10; there, we find the law that ‘The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.’ This is not a law for men alone. If so, Paul would have been more specific in that scripture. So, male or female, husband or wife, all must work. As children of God, we have learned from Genesis 2:1-2 and all over the Bible that God also works. So, if God is working, why won’t we? It is simply an unrealistic illusion for anyone to sit idle and expect the best to accrue to him or her. The laws of life don’t work that way; anyone unwilling to work shall not eat. Laziness is for the perishing.

So, to address the wife who thinks that financial support is not part of her assignment in marriage, we will check out what Solomon said about a virtuous woman in Proverbs 31:13-18. One of the high points of a virtuous wife is that she willingly works with her hands; she is an embodiment of strength, and she strengthens her own arms (she waits on no one to do that for her); she provides for her household; she considers a field and buys it, and with her profits, she plants a vineyard (she is a master of investments). All these she does by herself, not that the Bible says her husband set her up. So, with or without the enabling of her husband, she is not relenting. The Lord who has assigned her as a suitable helper in her marriage is the source of her strength and her enabler.

I find something interesting in Proverbs 31:11, which says, ‘The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so, he will have no lack of gain.’ I am struggling a bit to comprehend this verse, but if I am correct, Solomon is saying that a virtuous woman's husband does not lack gain because of the character of the wife he has married. If a wife is as strong, forward-thinking, goal-oriented, a die-hard achiever, loving, caring, and supportive as Solomon described in Proverbs 31:10-31, I can bet her husband will never lack gain. Behind a successful husband is a virtuous woman described by Solomon. Such a woman will forever be the queen of her husband’s heart.

But I will deviate a little so we can have a holistic approach to this issue, as I mentioned at the beginning. Some wives are homemakers, not by their own will but for circumstances beyond them. For some, the husbands do not wish for them to work, and for some, like me, we are still waiting on God and on the path of financial growth. This category of wives is not those unwilling to work. There are situations where the husband has decided to prioritize the well-being of the children and decided that in the best interest of their young children, the wife should stay home and care for them. For wives in this category, the instructions for submission to your husband supersedes your need to earn income. But never stop praying and find the means to grow yourself in a manner that will not jeopardize your submission to your husband. Learn and keep learning. Continue to sow the seed of growth in your life so you don’t become stale in knowledge when the opportunity to launch out comes. Know that your children will not be young forever; at a time, they will be grown enough to give you the space to be the virtuous woman Solomon described. And honestly, homemaking is work.  A big one at that.

Sometimes, I like to think of myself as jobless, basically because I fall into the category of those who are not earning income YET. This is not because I am unwilling to work but because I am still doing God's business. But a pastor friend told me that I am a miracle going somewhere to happen, and that stuck with me. I have spent much of my life as a stay-at-home mum, and my primary assignment was our four children, as well as every other assignment that was given to me by my husband. I can tell you that I can be very handy in the home. I fix any and everything that needs to be repaired in the house, enabled with a safe-cost spirit to everything. I love to learn, too. I am a full-stack web developer and a certified Scrum Master, and I love to write blogs like the one you are reading. As a matter of fact, I built the website that hosts my blogs and books from scratch. So, you will wonder why I don’t have a job. I trust God's time because He makes all things beautiful in His time. He is my destiny's director, so I wait on Him. I enjoy writing these blogs, and the feedback I get from them is very fulfilling. 

I hope the perspective shared in this blog is all-encompassing and touching various case scenarios, even to the point of sharing my personal story. However, the message remains that anyone unwilling to work should not eat. If you want God to bless you, you need to give Him work to bless. And your income as a wife is a tool of support for your husband, too.

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