Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. (Proverbs 31:25 ESV)

A mother may face particular fears as she lives her life. She may fear for her husband – his health, his work, his continued companionship, his future life. She may fear for her children – their safety, their development, their decisions, their future life. She may fear for herself – her own health, safety and future.

But there is one fear that the Bible honors in women: “A woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised” (Prov. 31:30). A woman who lives her life with a reverential trust in the Lord can find the grace she needs to stare down her fears. The Lord Jesus is her Center. He is the foundation beneath her faith, the object of her hope, the sustainer of her life. Because a woman fears the Lord, she fears nothing else.

Her fear of the Lord clothes her with “strength and dignity” – a steady confidence that her life is in God’s hands, giving her worth and security.

And because her confidence is secure in her Lord, “she laughs at the time to come.” She can smile at the future because she has entrusted her concerns and anxieties to the Lord. Her fears for her husband or her children or herself or anything else are swallowed up in her fear of the Lord. Instead of frowning or fretting, she faces her future with joy.

Some fears do come to pass. I think of my grandmothers, who both lost their husbands. Grandma Tillie lost hers suddenly; yet all I ever observed in her was strength and dignity, the outworking of her trust in God. She lived seventeen more years cheerfully smiling at the time to come. Grandma Joyce faithfully attended her husband while his health faded and until he lost his fight. She displayed her own strength and dignity, fueled by her faith in the Lord. To this day, she faces her future with a joy befitting her name.

Mothers, fear not the days to come. Your trust is in the Lord. Whatever your season of life may be, the Lord is with you, controlling your fears and guiding your future according to His loving plan. Remember that the time to come includes your entrance into His presence, where your present “laughter” will turn into the fullness of joy forevermore.