Lessons to Learn from Abigail

Having explored a phenomenal woman of the bible, we shall be considering, some important lessons to learn from Abigail.

Did you miss the previous two episodes?
You can find them on Nabal and David and Abigail!

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A lot has been said about this woman (Abigail) in different Christian websites, literature and biblical expositions. In an attempt to do justice to a clearer biblical exposition of this character Abigail, much research has been done.

I want to appreciate the Holy Spirit, who is my greatest inspiration. I write to glorify him! To the persons asking about how I source for blog topics and develop content for my blog. I will do a different post on this, God willing!

All bible verses cited here are derived from “The Bible Gateway”

Now let us get back to the topic of the day ‘ 5 Important lessons to learn from Abigail’.

1. Wisdom

Wisdom was not uncommon in Abigail… I observed this from her approach and dealings with people. Abigail knew when to speak, and refrain from speaking.

A classic example was when she was told about Nabal’s hostility towards David’s servants. She said nothing to her husband. Women are fond of expressing their feelings as the occasion demands (even when it could be irrational).

However, we see a woman who did the opposite. Her silence was not an explanation of her weakness or ignorance as regards confronting her husband. Obviously, she perceived danger, and wisdom demanded swift actions, to even preserve his life.

Interestingly, she knew better than to come empty. She had sent ahead of her, donkeys loaded with food of different sorts.

Like the saying goes;

A hungry man is an angry man….

I will want to borrow the reverse part, (in this discussion alone, of course)…

An angry man is a hungry man.

Indeed this does not always hold true! (Smiles)

Speaking from this light, it would be bad manners to approach a King, empty, especially an angry one! (Smiles)!

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. (Psalm 100:4)

Even our Almighty God requires a sacrifice of praise when we come to him. This is one gift he will not reject from His children!

Additionally, she knew better than to tell her husband of her proposed mission of appeasement, or seek his permission. Obviously, Nabal would disapprove of it. However, this is not a license to practicing independence in the marriage setting. Wisdom is profitable to direct!

People of God, Wisdom is the principal thing. There is a wisdom that causes men to win in this life. More so, there is a wisdom required to getting your requests approved. This also applies in our relationship with God.

2. Virtue

18 Abigail acted quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs[b] of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 Then she told her servants, “Go on ahead; I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal (1 Samuel 25:18-19)

We see a virtuous woman, who always had her house full of food and other supplies. She had an urgent matter to attend to and there was little or no time to bake bread.

Therefore we can rightly conclude that she was a good manager of her home. One would wonder if she had envisaged such an awful occurrence that would necessitate amassing a large quantity of supplies, in a short notice.
Even when her mission was successful, she did not return home to lash out at Nabal. She allowed him for the night, and told him of his folly, the next morning.

Abigail understood the place of virtue in winning her many battles. Nabal was quite a hard nut to crack!

As a young Christian lady, virtue is indispensable, if you must win the hearts of kings. Virtue is all-encompassing as we also see generosity and humility featured here!

Virtue (character) is something that all must be intentional about cultivating. This applies to both men and women. The proof of the its presence will present itself in cases, requiring urgent actions.

3. Discretion

Abigail understood when, where and how to speak. Her clear understanding of the right things to do and how to go about it is baffling.

Her ability to access a situation from a logical perspective, coupled with maintaining decorum, in the process is worth emulating. She knew the right words to use in order to quell an atmospheric tension. Her discretion afforded her insights to understanding words of pacification that could soothe a hurting/angered soul.

How do you respond to an escalated situation? Your words can either rouse or douse a surging tension.
Can people find solace and comfort when you speak to them? Can God use you to minister healing to the weary and broken-hearted?
Are your words ministering life and light to others? Abigail’s words were not ordinary at all. David was determined to kill, but her words hit him like a soothing balm on an inflamed joint.

I pray God makes us men and women of this nature, who can speak to Kings boldly and quench bitterness and strife!

4. Boldness/confidence

Interestingly, I observed that this Carmelite woman was not scared to own up to her responsibility. Indeed, she was bold!

Think of this, she was married to one of the biggest business moguls in those times. Probably, she may not have been exposed to the difficult and hazy part of life.

However, she was bold enough to stand before David (an angry warlord) and four hundred trained and blood thirsty warriors, armed for battle.

I am talking about men who have spent many years in the open fields. There was a risk of being slaughtered before uttering one word. Having gotten firsthand information of an impending doom (from her servants), she had the option of absconding, until all hell was let loose on her stubborn husband.

However, she stepped in to clear the mess.

David and his servants were insulted and Nabal’s servants sought for a redress. Hence, they consulted Mrs Nabal. Probably, they had faith in her ability to handle difficult situations.

5. Versatility

No doubt, Abigail was well informed.

Oh no! The Carmelite was no novice at all. She was well aware of the current trends in Israel. Her place was not restricted to the kitchen or bedroom. I suspect that this gave her the much needed insight of what to do considering the urgency of the situation.

It was amazing that in spite of her state as the wife of a wealthy man, she was still concerned with the political events. For instance, she knew David was a fugitive king who has been on the run from King Saul. Plus, she had an understanding of what he was capable of.

Truthfully, she could decipher that her husband (with all of his influence) was no match for David.

Knowledge is very important if we must approach situations efficiently.
It would be dangerous to work with half-baked information for accessing information.

Consider this:

“Please forgive your servant’s presumption. The LORD your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because you fight the LORD’s battles, and no wrongdoing will be found in you as long as you live. (1 Samuel 25:28)

More so, she got some insight into the plans of God for David. Hence, she chipped in a tip of it. This, of course, caught David’s attention!

Such an intelligent woman!

6. Spiritual Sensitivity

Indeed, Abigail was knowledgeable. She was also spiritually inclined. Her statement in the bible verse above is quite interesting.

However, I suspect that she knew that David would eventually seek for her hand in marriage, upon the death of her husband (Nabal).

Hence, she was not confused as to what her response could be. Although, David was a proposed King at that time, but he was not yet crowned as King.

Nevertheless, Abigail accepted him. One could see that she was not attracted to David’s affluence, hence, this could not be a justifiable means of winning her way into his life.

More still, David was still on the run. A king with neither a palace nor a crown!

It takes a woman who is spiritually sensitive to be able to articulate information based on the events happening around her. This will enable her make God-centered decisions at all times.

There is a prayer I wish we would all pray together as women of faith. This prayer also applies to the men too. Its true that this Abigail is a woman. However, the purpose of this exposition is to bring light to God’s Word and to find helpful lessons that apply to us too.

I pray that beyond the shores of this page, your heart will continue to burn as you read and pray through these prayer memes… AMEN!