I WAS WRONG!

I love studying the Word of God! It is fresh bread every time I come to the table. It encourages. It inspires. It shines Light. It comforts. It burns a flame in my soul that keeps my heart warm. It breathes new life in me. It is Good…

God speaks through His Word today and if we allow Him to, His Spirit will apply what we read and study and meditate on to our present "today" life. I love that! I Samuel, chapter 25 introduces a lady named Abigail. Her life is a beautiful picture of so many things we can apply to our lives girls. Everything may not apply "specifically" but much of it will. First of all, she was married to a "fool," scripture says. Ha! And a rich fool at that! But, the Bible calls her a woman of good understanding (intelligent, knowledge, wisdom) and beautiful in appearance. Well, we know beauty is only skin deep but a good study of Abigail’s life proves her beauty goes far deeper than the surface. May we be more concerned about our own inner beauty than what folks see on the outside. Abigail’s beauty was revealed in her actions. Let’s see what happened…

Her husband’s shepherds had been out in the wilderness (doing whatever shepherds do), and David’s men (his army) had been guarding them. In fact, it says later in the chapter that David’s men "were a wall around them night and day." So, David sends ten of them with a message to Nabal (Abigail’s husband) letting him know they have protected them and he asks him for provision. But foolish Nabal says, "Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse?" And he basically says why should I help him? David’s men go back to tell him what Nabal has said.

In the meantime, one of Nabal’s shepherds goes to Abigail to let her know what’s going on and to ask her to "do something!" because "disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household." (verse 17) Now, lets look at these few verses that tell the story of what kind of woman Abigail was and how she was used by God to affect history!

Abigail, it says in verse 18, "lost no time." She got a bunch of food ready and loaded it on her donkeys. She told her servants to go on ahead of her and she said, "I’ll follow you." But (a little footnote) she didn’t tell her husband Nabal. We’re told in the verses prior that when David found out what Nabal said, he told his men to put on their swords and he put on his (about 400 men, by the way).

Now here’s the first awesome thing: (verse 20, AMP) "As she (Abigail) rode on her donkey, she came down hidden by the mountain, and behold, David and his men came down opposite her, and she met him." What was she hidden by? the PRESENCE OF GOD!!!!!! If you’ve read many of my recent posts, you know how God has been speaking to me during this season about the symbolism of the mountains! Living in His presence. Living and walking where the terrain may be rough and the view often hidden but that’s where God dwells. And that is one of the first things that rose off the page when I read Abigail’s story. She’s a woman of the mountains. Everything in her life may not have been perfect but she knew her God and she was moved to action and was very courageous when the situation called for divine wisdom and faith!

So, here she is face to face with David and his 400 men on their way to basically wipe out Nabal and every male in his household (vs. 21-22). And how does she respond to David? She jumped off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. She fell at his feet and said: "My lord, let the blame be on me alone." Then she says Nabal has acted like a fool but I didn’t see your men come. She asks David to accept the provision she has brought and to "forgive the trespass of your handmaid." She even speaks of what is to come in David’s life as ruler over Israel which lets us know she was also a woman of discernment who knew who David was (God’s anointed). This is where I WAS WRONG. A couple of months ago I wrote a post called "Lessons I’m learning in the fire." In it I wrote that we need to guard against blame. And we do. But, then I said we should neither blame others nor blame ourselves for everything. This week God has spoken a word on how we are to respond in challenging situations. Abigail’s response…even though she was not directly at fault…was to humbly take the blame and ask David to forgive in hopes that her household would be saved and the people she loved would be spared. I would never want to lead anyone reading this blog in any direction other than the truth. And the truth is girlfriends, we are to be people willing to bow down and accept blame.

We could say Abigail was between a rock and a hard place. Her husband had acted foolishly and David, the Lord’s anointed was about to do something very foolish (avenging himself), but she stood in the gap (hidden by the mountain) and sought to honor both men by offering herself as the sacrifice. WOW!!!!!! The result? God brought peace. Verse 35, David said, "Go home in peace."

There’s much more here but this post is already very long. For now, it is my prayer that God will use me (and anyone reading this) like He used Abigail. Check out I Samuel 25 and ask the Lord to reveal Himself to you through His Word. It is alive and active (Hebrews 4) and always offers a new word to the seeking heart. I love You, Lord, and I lift my voice to worship You!