The Abigail Moment

If many of us knew the consequence of the steps 
we take outside of the leading of the Holy Spirit, 
I believe we will be more willing to allow the 
Holy Spirit to lead us.
Some of us are ignorant of the consequence of 
our disobedience and as a result, we continue 
to walk in that path.
 
Take David for example, he sent some of his men 
to Nabal asking him for some provisions.
Nabal was a rich man and his herdsmen had sought 
refuge with David's men in the forest some months 
earlier.
David's men had protected them and ensured that 
they were not raided by bandits from Amalek and 
Philistia.
 
David expected Nabal to be grateful.
Nabal refused to acknowledge David's kind gesture 
and spoke disrespectfully to David's men.
The men took the message to David and David 
decided he wouldn't let the insult stand.
The problem with that decision is complex.
 
 
David was an Israelite, a political fugitive, 
who needed all the goodwill he could get.
Attacking an Israelite would be very bad for 
his bid to become king later in the future.
Someone would surely point out that one 
indiscretion.
Yet, taking the insult on the face was too 
much for David.
 
He was a leader of men and such a brazen insult 
was not good for his reputation among his men.
It was a tough decision.
One that had to be weighed delicately.
Eventually, David decided he was going to 
kill Nabal and his household.
This decision would mean killing everyone 
who can one day tell the story to others.
 
So even though Nabal was the sinner, David 
would have to kill everyone who could bear 
witness against him before the people one day.
In my opinion, David made the wrong decision!
But our God is wonderful.
 
God knew David would have gone too far if he 
took that action.
So, God stirred some members of Nabal's 
household to speak to his wife, Abigail.
Abigail knew the implication of Nabal's 
foolish talk and quickly prepared the 
provision David's men needed.
She went to her husband and said to him 
"Mr. Nabal, you need to be thinking before 
speaking.
You have insulted a warlord and his men.
They have nothing to lose by killing you 
and the entire household. All they need do 
was leave no witness behind and they would 
pretend it was the Amalekites, Edomites, 
Philistines, or other raiders
Didn't you consider that
before speaking?
Everything you have will be taken and you 
will lose your life just because you cannot 
help being foolish"
 
When Nabal heard the words and the consequences 
as laid out by Abigail, his blood pressure rose 
and he suffered a stroke.
Abigail on the other hand rushed towards David's 
camp to salvage the situation.
She guessed right.
David and his men were charging towards 
Nabal's house when they met on the road.
 
Abigail fell on her knees and apologized, she 
presented the provisions and begged David not 
to take any action that could cost him dearly 
in the future.
David saw how good Abigail was at diplomacy.
She exhibited a rare grasp of situations 
and their consequences. And he made a mental 
note not to let her be too far from him in the 
future.
 
A king needs good hands and good heads, if 
such comes in the form of a woman, it is an 
added advantage.
Nabal died of a heart attack.
 
A few months later, David became King in 
Israel and the first thing he did was to send 
for Abigail to be one of his queens.
Abigail turned a negative situation around 
because she had the quickness of apprehension.
 
Not many people even in this
time has that.
People seem to lack the ability to figure 
out cause and effect or action and consequence 
appropriately, yet they will insist they are 
educated and start speaking or writing English 
as if that qualifies them as being intelligent.
 
I got a case today, a funny case.
This guy needed a job badly after his OND, he 
heard of a man who needed a driver and decided 
to apply.
The man employed him.
The man had a daughter in a private 
university.
This guy and that daughter started playing 
hanky panky games.
This man's wife saw this and decided to 
separate the two of them.
The lady was sent abroad for her masters and 
this driver guy got sacked.
 
In a rage, after he was sacked, he 
slapped this woman who, like Nabal, spoke 
foolishly and called him many unprintable names.
He was arrested and locked up for a few days 
for assault.
He got out and forgot all about this "elitist" 
family.
 
A few years down the line he got a scholarship 
to study in the UK for his master's.
He met this lady again.
She had started working and they 
became fast friends.
She didn't say anything to her parents because 
she knew they would not allow the relationship.
 
He graduated and they decided they wanted to 
come to Nigeria and get married.
They decided it would be best if she got 
pregnant and she did.
They assumed that would put her parents 
in a corner and give them the green light.
When they got to Nigeria, she met with 
her parents.
She told her parents she was getting married 
and who she was getting married to.
 
Her parents laughed and told her to look at 
her mother's left eye
The eye had lost its ability to see.
Her parents told her the day "this driver" 
slapped her mother out of anger, was the day 
the eye issue started.
The eye defied treatment and it continued to 
deteriorate until her mother went blind in 
one eye.
She was never told about the slap.
 
If her parents had told her about it, she 
would never have had anything to do with him.
Her father said No.
Her mother said No.
She didn't even say anything to him.
She just went dark!
He tried to call her several times, 
she didn't pick
Then he reached out to me and asked that 
I intervene.
 
I did and well, here I am writing the story.
If only he restrained himself that day.
If only he considered the
future and his love for their daughter.
A lot of "if only" and Had I known's...
He didn't have an Abigail moment.
We all should!
The lady he wanted to marry said she 
wanted nothing to do with him.
In her words, "How can I be with a man who 
slapped my mother? 
How can I even consider marrying him?"
It didn't matter that this same man had been 
with her in the UK for four years and they 
had both had a glorious relationship.
It didn't matter that just last week she wrote 
him a note saying he was the best thing that 
ever happened to her in this world.
It didn't matter that he was a good man 
and was no longer prone to angry outbursts 
and foolish behavior.
 
She said "Why would somebody I chose to love 
even when he was a driver and had nothing not 
respect my mother because he was upset?
It means he never really loved me or had any 
plans to be with me in the future.
In his mind, I was gone and he could do 
anything and get away with it.
Did you know he never told me he got arrested 
and they made him sign an undertaking never to 
come near any member of my family again?
He is a liar and a snake!
I hate him"
Hmmm...
 
This young lady had aborted the pregnancy.
She just didn't want anything to do with 
this young man
The young man however is full of remorse 
but what can he do now?
Like David, he got so close to the throne 
but because he didn't have an Abigail moment, 
he couldn't sit on it!
David did!