Abigail
had intervened successfully with David and managed to avert a calamity for her
family and people. She not only did it diplomatically but also at the right
time. What she said persuaded David to abandon his intended bloodshed. David
realized that it was God who had sent Abigail on time. So he said to her, “Blessed
be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, and
blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day
from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand. Nevertheless,
as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from
harming you, unless you had come quickly to meet me, surely there would not
have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much
as one male.”
David’s
change from anger and fury, to calm and reasoning, was almost immediate. He
recognized the hand of God in the whole matter. Gratefully he accepted all
that Abigail had said. Acknowledging her courage, he admitted that had God not
sent her to stop him, a catastrophe would have taken place. He would have
brought harm to her and devastated her family and people. Her intervention was
indeed timely. Accepting the goodwill she had brought to him, David then sent
her back in peace to her house.
This
account reminds us of an English proverb that says, “a stitch in time saves
nine.” To act rightly is important but to do so with timeliness is critical. Is
there something in our lives that needs immediate intervention? Have we been
pushing and making excuses for our passivity? Learn from Abigail, act quickly.
Can you imagine what devastating consequence it would have brought to her
family had she procrastinated? Perhaps God is signaling to us to do something
with what is happening around us. It’s time to relook at our walk with God.
It’s time to stop making excuses, leave behind complacency and start acting
before it’s too late. Someone put it this way: Don’t just say it, show it;
don’t just talk about it, do it; and don’t just promise it, prove it. So,
arise!
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