Abigail and Nabal

There was a wealthy man from Maon who owned property near the village of Carmel. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats, and it was sheep-shearing time.This man's name was Nabal, and his wife, Abigail, was a sensible and beautiful woman. But Nabal, a descendant of Caleb, was mean and dishonest in all his dealings. - 1 Samuel 25:2-3


Despite (or because of) his wealth, Nabal was a man who did not revere God or man. Evidently, Nabal was convinced that his own efforts enabled him to amass his great riches. He was a "self-made" man. What's more, he was not a man of integrity. In all likelihood, much of what he possessed was stolen from others. 


Sadly, Nabal was not aware that the king had actually been watching over his flocks for a season. None of Nabal's  sheep had been stolen because of King David's presence. When the king asked Nabal for whatever he could spare from among his livestock, Nabal made the terrible mistake of rejecting the man of God's request for provision. Consequently, he was in danger of losing his life at the hands of King David and his men.


Are there any Nabal's in your life? 


You'd better think fast, for there is going to be trouble for our master and his whole family. He's so ill-tempered that no one can even talk to him!" Abigail lost no time. She quickly gathered two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, nearly a bushel of roasted grain, one hundred raisin cakes, and two hundred fig cakes. She packed them on donkeys and said to her servants, "Go on ahead. I will follow you shortly." But she didn't tell her husband what she was doing. - 1 Samuel 25:17-19


Because of Nabal's poor decision, Abigail had to intervene quickly on his behalf. She gathered the best of what she could find to present to the king, without telling her husband about his mistake or the ensuing danger. She could have belittled, or otherwise shamed him, for his decision. Instead, Abigail went directly to the only one with the power to protect her husband. "Love covers a multitude of sins."


What do you do when you must "clean up the mess" after your spouse makes a decision that could threaten his well-being, as well as that of the entire household? When our husbands are not fully surrendered to the will of God for their lives, it impacts everyone within the family!


When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed low before him. She fell at his feet and said, "I accept all blame in this matter, my lord. Please listen to what I have to say. I know Nabal is a wicked and ill-tempered man; please don't pay any attention to him. He is a fool, just as his name suggests. But I never even saw the messengers you sent. "Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, since the LORD has kept you from murdering and taking vengeance into your own hands, let all your enemies be as cursed as Nabal is. And here is a present I have brought to you and your young men. Please forgive me if I have offended in any way. The LORD will surely reward you with a lasting dynasty, for you are fighting the LORD's battles. And you have not done wrong throughout your entire life. - 1 Samuel 25:23-28


In recognizing the king's position, and humbling herself before him, Abigail was enabled to save her husband's life. If you're married to a man who does not acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Lord of his life, your prayers of intercession to the Father, on his behalf, may very well protect him from the calamity that could otherwise befall him. Continue to pray for his salvation. Pray for his protection. Ask the Lord to bless him. Remember that the Lord loves your husband, whether he's saved, or not. So, love that man just as Christ loves him. "Be not weary in well-doing, for you shall reap, if you faint not!" 

Our Testimony

You'd think that a middle-aged Christian couple, whom God brought together after the tragic loss of our spouses, would be a "match made in heaven"! Well, it was, but neither of us knew how the Lord would use this marriage to break us, mold us, and transform us into the image of our Savior. Five years after saying, "I do!" the Lord's process continues.


Before I was even a "blip" on Ken's "radar", God asked me if I would "care for Ken all the days of our lives together" on this earth. And, I said, "Yes, Lord!" Isn't it funny how, in our zeal for the Lord, we'll say "yes" to anything He asks of us? Especially if it's easy. Or, at least, we think it'll be easy. I never knew just how much that "yes" would cost me. "Be not hasty to vow a vow to the Lord!"


Maybe if I'd asked more questions? Like, "Lord, what church does this man belong to?" Or, "Lord, will we be happy?" Or, "Lord, will he love me?", I would have known whether, or not, to tell the Lord, "yes"?  No. When the Lord asks you to do something, He doesn't give you the details. And, if I'd asked those surface questions, The Lord wouldn't have answered anyway. Except to say, "Do you trust Me?"


If the Lord had answered every question that I had about the man He was asking me to marry, I probably would have said, "No!" Or, I would have put "conditions" on it. "Well, if You'll change this, or tweak that, and stop other things from coming to pass...we'll have a deal!" No, the Lord does not operate that way. Remember that the Lord, our God, sent Abraham away from his family and friends and everything else that was familiar to him, to a land that He would show him. But, Abraham had to go without knowing anything about that place, before he began the journey.


I trusted the Lord! And, because I trusted the Lord, I didn't expect that there would be any difficulties, setbacks, trials or hardships in our marriage, whatsoever. But, I was so very wrong! I spent more time in prayer in those first three and one-half years of marriage than I ever had since committing my life to Christ in 1999. Suffice it to say, I have a very strong prayer life now! Glory to God!!! Now, my prayers are as distant as we are. Each morning, I lay my husband, our marriage, and our blended family, "at the foot of the cross." I trust God to fix what is wrong, because I've run out of things to pray for and all I want is the Lord's will, whatever it is, to prevail, in all of our lives!


It has been good for Ken and me that we were afflicted in our relationship. The Lord has shown both of us just how flawed we both are and how very much we need to rely upon Him to fix whatever is wrong in our relationship! As I have reluctantly decided to "let go and to let God", the Lord continually amazes me by improving my husband's attitude and behavior toward me!!! ALL Glory and Honor and Praise to our Great God and King! Apart from Him, we can do absolutely NO-THING!!! Thank you, Lord!!!