Devotional Day 6:
Making the Most of Every Opportunity
“She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.” Proverbs 31:27
When we read about the Proverbs 31 woman, it’s easy to picture perfection. Early mornings. Productive days. Children rising up and calling her blessed. A woman who somehow does it all without ever feeling behind.
But what if her greatest strength wasn’t perfection...
What if it was intention?
She “watches over the affairs of her household.” That means she pays attention.
She notices. She is present. Not perfect. Present.
And presence is one of the rarest gifts in a distracted world.
Time is funny, isn’t it?
When your babies are little, the days feel long but the years feel short.
When your children grow older, you realize the moments you thought would last forever
quietly slip into memories.
The Proverbs 31 woman understood something powerful:
Time is not just something to manage it’s something to steward.
And sometimes stewardship doesn’t look like a quiet morning at home.
Sometimes it looks like loading everyone into the car again.
And if I'm honest, I don't always get this right. My house is a mess more times than it is neat.
There are more days than not that I am rushed.
Days that I am thinking about the next thing while still standing in the middle of this one.
Days that I am answering emails at red lights or mentally running through my to-do list
while my child is telling me about their day.
I am guilty of rushing these holy moments.
Sometimes I see dance practice as another obligation instead of a gift.
Sometimes I sit at baseball practice distracted instead of being present.
Sometimes I'm so focused on managing time that I forget to treasure it.
But the beauty of the Proverbs 31 woman is not that she is flawless.
It's that she was faithful.
And every rushed moment is an invitation to slow down again.
God is reminding me that
These aren't interruptions.
These are opportunities.
Opportunities to listen.
To laugh.
To pray quietly in the stands.
To lock eyes with my child and let them know, "I'm here."
Those drives to and from become conversations.
Those sidelines become places where character is built not just in them, but in you.
There is an older woman somewhere and her house is much cleaner and much quieter now,
her evenings no longer filled with practice schedules and carpools.
If you asked her what mattered most, she wouldn’t talk about how tired she was.
She would tell you she misses the sound of cleats on pavement and dance shoes tapping across the floor.
She would tell you she wishes she had lingered a little longer in the in between moments.
The Proverbs 31 woman wasn’t remembered because her house was perfect.
She was remembered because her people were loved.
Children don’t need a flawless mother.
They need a faithful one.
Making the most of every opportunity doesn’t mean filling every minute.
It means asking, “Lord, what matters right now?”
Sometimes it’s discipline.
Sometimes it’s dishes.
Sometimes it’s turning down the radio in the car and really listening.
Your family is not an interruption to your calling.
They are your calling.
And one day sooner than you think your children will rise up
and call you blessed not because you did everything,
but because you chose them again and again in the small, unseen, holy moments.
So today, don’t rush it.
Don’t wish it away.
Don’t trade eternal impact for temporary productivity.
Make the most of this opportunity.
This practice.
This car ride.
This season.
Because the Proverbs 31 woman wasn’t perfect but
She was building a legacy.
And so are you.
Brittany Smith
