"The Scavenger"

¹⁴She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.

Proverbs 31:14 says this woman is like the merchants' ship going afar to bring food.  T. Nicol contends that the Hebrews were a pastoral and agricultural people, and had no inducements to follow a seafaring life.  Yet, we know that Solomon and Hiram were partners in a Tharshish fleet arriving with fine imported goods every three years (1 Kgs. 10:22).   The Proverbist yet again illuminates the extraordinary character of this Proverbs 31 woman.  She is from a people that by nature are not prone to travel by sea unless absolutely necessary but she thinks and moves outside the box of tradition to the advancements around her in order to secure what is needed for her family. The more I learn about this sistah……I think to myself she is a Bad Mamma Jamma!!!!

The word scavenger carries with it several negative connotations but I want to focus on the more general definition of scavenger: a person who searches through refuse for food minus the refuse J   This Sistah is willing to not only search diligently for and to secure what is readily available to her but for the well-being of her family she is willing to go to great lengths and travel great distances in order to secure provision for her family.  We know that food provides vital nutrients to strengthen the body thus rendering it functional for activity.  Without proper nourishment her family can’t thrive so this sistah is all about life for her family.  Matthew Henry contends, “What her own ground does not produce she can furnish herself with, if she have occasion for it, by exchanging her own goods for it; and so she brings her food from afar.  Not that she values things the more for their being far-fetched, but, if they be ever so far off, if she must have them she knows how to come by them”.  Thus, she has a “by any means necessary” spirit.   If she has to travel to a foreign land to get what her family needs her passport is on her person at all times J

We all remember participating in various scavenger hunt exercises.  The Proverbs 31 woman is the only player in this scavenger hunt for she makes the list and then she obtains everything on the list.  When I think about a scavenger, I am reminded of my favorite childhood video game, Pac-Man and they later came out with Ms. Pac-Man (Pac-Man with a red bow).  They would go throughout the maze eating dots and fruit that were available and trying to escape the ghosts.  I think of the Proverbs 31 woman as the original Ms. Pac-Man but instead of eating up everything, she goes to and fro gathering up everything she can to provide her family with sustenance to go to the next round.

To all the Ms. Pac-Man Sistahs out there, I salute you!!!!

Walk It Out Application:

This week reflect on routine and also novel things that your family may need to go to the next level.  After identification is action, so seek near and far to secure everything needed for your family. 

God Bless You Sistahs!!!!

Minister Anna P. Shanklin

Next Week’s Topic:  The Early Riser (Proverbs 31:15)