Proverbs 31:15 (New International Version)

¹⁵ She gets up while it is still night;
    she provides food for her family
    and portions for her female servants.

Have you ever come across this verse, and other similar verses, and go, “oh dear, I’m guilty.”

And it’s worse if you’re a girl trying to be a godly woman, because Proverbs 31 is often mentioned as a descriptor for them.

The guilt eats into you, and for the next few days, you try to wake up before the sun rises.

At 4am or 5am.

But you fail.

And you start to wonder if perhaps God is frowning somewhere, thinking about that failure.

And for the days where you succeed, you are so exhausted that you can hardly focus on any tasks.

Sounds familiar?

I am here to clarify things to you.

God is not displeased with you when you fail to wake up early.

Proverbs 31:15 is teaching that a godly woman is diligent.

And diligence means you allocate your resources well, including the hours in each day.

If you rise up early in the morning, but you spend that day daydreaming, or doomscrolling, then you are not allocating your time wisely.

In that case, the purpose for waking up early is nullified.

However, if you wake up late in mid afternoon, but you spend what little of the day left to work hard on praying for others, studying your bible, and taking care of your duties, then you are living out the principle of diligence.

Proverbs 31:15 is not teaching that you must wake up at a certain hour of the day everyday.

It is teaching that a woman who honours God also honours the time He gave her.

So it doesn’t matter what hour of the day you wake up, what matters is how you treat the time God gave you.

I hope this put some peace in your heart, and took away the guilt.

For some perspective, let me share my personal situation with you.

For my severe mental illness, I take heavy sedatives for medication every night. It puts me into a deep sleep, and I have difficulty rising up early in the morning. Because it is a mental illness, sleep is especially important to me for my health. I require more hours than the average person needs, and if I do not allow my body adequate rest, it takes a toll on my mood. My loved ones care deeply about my emotional state, so it matters a lot to me to get enough rest. I have triggered panic/anxiety attacks from lack of sleep before, and it made my family very worried. Sure, I could still force myself to wake up early like the woman in Proverbs 31, but it would not be pleasing to Him because I would not be acting in love for my loved ones. However, I still want continually make an effort to increase the amount of hours daily that I can stay awake for, but till then, I spend the hours in each day wisely by giving ample time to bible study, prayer and fellowship. And I believe with my heart that God is pleased with that.

So it’s not so much the time you wake up at, but that you display with your way of living that you are the diligent woman God called you to be.