Living Well (despite Nabal)

Welcome if you are stopping by after reading my devotion about Abigail. Let me tell you how I first "met" her.

When I first came to Christ, I found a small mom & pop owned Christian bookstore around the corner from my apartment. It had been there all along, but I'd never known quite what it was. Its name, Fishers of Men, sounded like a seafood market to me. Which was odd, I thought, for a city in the mountains.

And I didn't eat seafood then, unless hush puppies count.

Once I understood the name's reference, I spent a lot of time and money in that shop, reading nearly every book they had. At one point the owners invited me to just sit on the floor and read - I think they were afraid I'd spend my entire college-girl budget there and not have any food to eat!

One of the books (I bought this one) was called All the Women of the Bible. It was a reference book of sorts, listing out each biblical woman, telling the meaning of her name and the highlights of her life. It was in these pages I first met Abigal - I was taken by her story.

My new-to-Christ, state college attending, liberal arts learning, steeped in plenty of feminist thought self couldn't believe how she acted. It wan't that I was amazed that he was so kind, but that she was ABLE to be that nice to that man in those circumstances.

I was pretty sure I couldn't have acted like Abigail had I wanted to. And, for the record, I didn't want to. I wanted her to clobber her no-good husband Nabal!


And yet I was impressed that she didn't. How could she not?


My tendency back then - and sometimes even now - is to withhold love, help, forgiveness or grace unless or until the other person deserves it in my eyes.

And that's a choice that I make. Abigail's life teaches me that I can be the sort of woman - wife, mother, daughter, friend - that God calls me to be, despite how others around me behave.

I can be who I want to be - who I am in Christ - even if that lets them off the hook in some way.


Let's look at it this way...

Did Nabal benefit from Abby's goodness without being deserving of those benefits? Yes. But isn't God often good to us without our deserving it? And isn't God deserving of our obedience to be kind and to love our neighbors and enemies, even if those neighbors and enemies are jerks? (Yes.)

And here's another one to consider, don't we deserve to be women of virtue despite how others choose to see us or treat us?

The answer again is YES.

We deserve to lead God-honoring, bless-worthy lives regardless of our circumstances, income level, marriage status, crazy partner, physical flaws, lack of stable upbringing, wayward family members, or anything else. We can make Abigail's same choice to rise above our circumstances and live well.

Because choosing humility and wisdom allows God to shape our character and our circumstances.

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If you'd like to enter to win a signed copy of my book It's No Secret leave a comment this weekend. I'll draw and announce a winner on Monday.