FASHIONED to be Intelligent & Beautiful
Have you ever met someone who is the picture of beauty? Not simply because they are attractive, but because of how they carry themselves. When faced with a difficult person or situation, they stay calm, and peace surrounds them. Their beauty comes from within.
This month as we celebrate Mother's Day, I thought I would share an example of a woman who "saved the day," so to speak, by being a peacemaker. Her example is one I want to emulate.
She is Abigail, and you can read about her in I Samuel 25. Abigail was intelligent AND beautiful. According to the Hebrew Bible, this is the only place a woman was referred to by these two words simultaneously in scripture. Read this with me.
A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. His name was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings—he was a Calebite. I Samuel 25: 2-3 (NLT)
To give you the backstory, David, the future king, lived in the wilderness with his men after Samuel died. He was still on the run from King Saul, and it would be years before he would become king. While in the wilderness, he met Nabal's men and protected them, their sheep, and goats. Now Nabal's men had returned to Carmel for the sheep shearing. During this time, sheep shearing season was a great time to celebrate and feast. So, David sends ten of his men to meet Nabal and requests that Nabal share some of the food with them, knowing that he had protected Nabal's men when they had been in the wilderness together.
"Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and the whole time they were at Carmel, nothing of theirs was missing. Ask your own servants, and they will tell you. Therefore, be favorable toward my men since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them. " I Samuel 25:7-8
Nabal's men return with David’s request, but his response is not favorable. Finally, David hears about it, and his emotions get the best of him. He decides to go and kill everyone in Nabal's camp.
Enter Abigail, intelligent, beautiful, and a peacemaker.
Nabal's men find Abigail and report their interaction to her, informing her that David's men had protected them like a wall day and night when they were in the wilderness with the sheep.
Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him. (I Samuel 25:17 )
Abigail saved the day. Quickly thinking, she took a lot of food and wine and sent it to David and his men, and then she personally went to meet David along his journey. When she saw David and his men approaching her, she jumped off her donkey, bowed down, and asked for mercy, not judgment. She acknowledged that David would be the future king and diffused the situation. David says these words to her:
"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak. Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, "Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request." I Samuel 32-35
When Abigail got home and found Nabal, he was drunk. Abigail had averted disaster through her actions. Nabal, who was evil, had a stroke the next day and died ten days later. Ultimately,
David sent for Abigail, and he married this beautiful, intelligent woman.
So, after that quick read, what can we learn from Abigail?
She was known as an intelligent woman. Abigail had established her reputation. The men knew she would have a solution, OR they wouldn't have wasted time approaching her.
Abigail led by example. She went to David and humbled herself. Being humble looks beautiful and often brings peace to volatile situations. Live what you speak.
The good news is we have the Holy Spirit to help us. We can ask God for wisdom in difficult circumstances and know He will answer us.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” James 1:5 (ESV)
As we celebrate Mother's Day, I want to strive to be known as beautiful AND intelligent. I want to be like Abigail. How about you?
Liz
