In the book of 1 Samuel chapter 25 we can read the interesting story of a woman named Abigail, wife of Nabal. Abigail is described as a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance, while Nabal is said evil and harsh.
After the death of Samuel the prophet and before he became King of Israel, David was hiding from King Saul (his predecessor) in the wilderness with his troop. There they met Nabal’s young shepherds who were feeding his flocks. When came the time to shear the sheep, David sent his young men to the rich Nabal to ask for food, reminding him of the way he treated and protected his shepherds in the wilderness. But Nabal rebuked them and they reported the offense to David. So David decided to avenge himself and girded his sword with four hundred of his men.
Nabal’s wife, informed of what was about to happen to her house, rose, took some victuals as an offering to David and his men, and went before him. As she met him she fell down on her face and asked for mercy for her and her house. Her first words were :”On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be!”
As I read further I was moved by the way she humiliated herself before David and how she found the right words to talk to his heart and appease him. She took the blame, she took the shame, she took the guilt of her senseless husband to protect and save herself first and then what was hers.
How often do we act as peacemakers and conciliators, taking the blame and the shame for our husbands even when we believe they are right?
How often do we cover their lacks by doing what is right even without them knowing it.
A wise woman protect her house, corrects the awkwardness of her husband (especially if this one doesn’t know the Lord), speaks in his name to erase an offense or ease a pain. She is the intercessor that bears the burden of her house and yet always comes back with pardon and mercy for the loved one. A wise woman doesn’t act with pride, she walks with humbleness; she doesn’t ignore situations that involve her household, she addresses them, led always by the Spirit of the Lord.
Finally a wise woman finds the right words and the appropriate time to talk to her husband, she knows how to break his barriers, because she works with the One who knows the heart of all men.
Abigail is a great example of what a Christian wife should be: beautiful maybe, but wise above all.