1 Samuel 25: 23 – 24 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got 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.

Do you have a relative in your life that no one knows what to do with?  Are you always bailing him or her out of situations to no avail or sometimes taking the blame yourself for what has gone wrong? Do you also find it especially burdensome because no gratitude is ever expressed to you for all the good you do? Sadly there are people like that. 1 Samuel 25 speaks of such a man. He was the husband of an intelligent and beautiful woman named Abigail. She says his name “Nabal” means fool and he behaved accordingly. He was a mean and unpleasant fellow. On top of that he was often drunk. I can only imagine what life is like to deal with someone like that, so I tread carefully here in trying to see what helped Abigail cope.

From her description of her husband we see that Abigail did not deny the reality of her circumstances. In addition to being beautiful and intelligent she was wise and I have always contended that intelligence comes from the acquisition of knowledge in one way or another but wisdom comes from God. Her wisdom was demonstrated in dealing with the crisis which developed when her husband chose to send words of insult back to David in response to his simple request for food for himself and his men. She was practical and generous in deciding to overwhelm David and his men with kindness as she provided more than sufficient food for them. As a result she saved herself, her husband’s life and possessions as well as the lives of their servants.

She was articulate too as it strikes me that in her encounter with David she engages in what must be the longest discourse by a woman in Scripture. Most importantly she was not only speaking to David out of a pure heart, she was Spirit-led. She could not have counseled or prophesied to David unless the Lord was with her. God has to be your source of strength, patience, wisdom and hope as you continue to deal with whoever is in your path who constantly challenges you beyond your natural capacity. And with God there is reward: “And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:9).