Beauty or Wisdom: Which one is more important for success to a woman?
“The world may put up with an ordinary and foolish man but not with a beautiful and foolish woman.”
Wisdom is a woman’s best weapon for success and not beauty because the world may put up with an ordinary but foolish man but not with a beautiful but foolish woman. I’ve come to understand that wisdom is the principal thing so in acquiring things, we’re urged to acquire a heart of wisdom and understanding. One needs to be skilled to be able to apply wisdom in situations because wisdom is not shallow but deep and needs to be drawn out; hence, shallow thinkers never display wisdom.
A classic example of this comes by looking at the life of King Ahasuerus, Queen Vashti, and Queen Esther (You can refer to the Book of Esther in the Bible to read the full account). King Ahasuerus was the King of the known world at that time. He began to reign in 486 BC. He ruled over 120 provinces from India to Ethiopia. The King could do whatever he liked as the sovereign despot and none could challenge him because he earned that position. Because he has conquered many lands and annexed their wealth, he was crazy, showing off his wealth for 180 days i.e. 6 months. Then for seven days, he gave a feast to everyone in the capital city, Susa, and people drank wine to their hearts’ content for free.
Queen Vashti also gave a feast to the women in the “royal house which belonged to the King.” The palace has laws governing it. For example, there were seven eunuchs who took care of the first harem where the young girls were gathered, and the second harem where they would return to stay as concubines if the King did not delight in them. There were seven princes who “saw the King’s face, and which sat the first in the kingdom.” When the King is in the inner court, no one goes there uninvited, unless the person wants to die. These are some of the laws governing the most important place at that time—the Palace. Now, King Ahasuerus, in his vanity and ego as the most important commander, commanded that Queen Vashti be brought so that he could show off her beauty, but she refused to come. It was easy for me to say that Queen Vashti’s refusal demonstrated standing up for one’s rights no matter the consequences. Certainly so, but I’ve realized that saying a plain “no” doesn’t require any skill or wisdom even though it takes courage; however, saying a constructive “no” in a way that turns situations around requires understanding, wisdom, courage, and skill.
I’ll uphold what is good and make it work for me than simply oppose what I object to, without efforts of wisdom, and then lose out. I’m all for resisting evil and fighting for my right but I’m learning a better way to fight. I’ve learned that the best way to proceed when confronted with a challenge is to task my brain first as to what best I could do and pray for God’s wisdom so that I can turn the challenge into a testimony and use it as a stepping stone for the greater good of everyone. That is a huge task, but wisdom can make it work. Queen Esther who replaced Queen Vashti was not a “yes” woman who is passive and complacent; she was a woman who knew how to say “no” and to do so wisely and with a plan. She did not respond in silent acquiescence when she learned about the plot that has been signed into a decree to destroy all the Jews according to the law of the Media and Persia that cannot be changed. She set to work and worked really hard for the good of all her people. Someone with less wisdom and selfish interests might focus her energy to find a way to protect herself alone or may become confrontational and lose out and endanger the lives of others who depend on her. I like to look at the life of the two Queens closely….
Thank you for reading. Come back next week for part two!
