I Samuel 25; Psalm 18

Do you have an Abigail in your life? Someone who can calm you down when you are angry? Someone who speaks sense when you are off on a tangent? David would have killed Nabal were it not for Abigail. She made him see that his attitude was wrong, and David listened.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I need someone who can help me take a second look at what I’m doing or thinking, because I have been known to make a big deal out of something that really wasn’t even an issue. I perceive a wrong. I get angry and don’t let up. It builds and builds in my mind until I have to do or say something to even the score, or to set someone straight. That usually ends up badly.

And it would have ended badly for David had he acted on his emotions.

Sometimes we do need to speak up when bad things happen But what I see in this account is that allowing our emotions to dictate our actions is probably not the best way to handle things. Let’s speak truth to each other. Let’s listen when truth is spoken to us.

Abigail is telling us to take a step back. To seek counsel. And to wait on the Lord. When God prompted Abigail to speak up, and when David listened to what God said through her, God’s will was able to be done. Nabal died without David having to carry the guilt of spilling his blood in a moment of rage.

I thank God for the people in my life who are “Abigail” to me, who are able to talk me off the cliff, to help me calm down, or refocus my thinking. And I pray that God will give me the opportunity to be an “Abigail” to someone else when it’s needed.

Thank God for Abigails.