Welcome back to The Road2Wholeness Blog and Life of LAB our yearly 7-Day Quick LAB Series.
In the Bible today... what is left after all the divisions, the sorting, and the inventions? Sift! Give me Factions, Give me Fractions, but still give me Fiction! Is the meaning behind all inventions in fiction tactical?
Let's continue.. Anointed to be King and on the run fighting for your life.. what does David choose to hear when Abigail approaches him and his men offering two hundred loaves, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs?
Here's are Abigail's words to David: "Please forgive your servant's presumption. The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because you fight the Lord's battles, and no wrongdoing will be found in you as long as you live. Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God, but the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling. When the Lord has fulfilled for my lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler over Israel, my lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the Lord your God has brought my lord success, remember your servant."
"And now, my lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and as you live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal."
The game of "Sift" being "What do you hear?".. sift between Abigail's words to find the voice of the Lord and her prophetic gift to David. Let's try to find the divisions, the portions, and the inventions.
In Abigail's address David is reminded of what the Lord has promised to do for him, and he is also made aware of what he did not consider. Fully dividing the word of God, David responds, "May you be blessed for your good judgement and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own judgement (or hands)".
Next in the breakdown of Abigail's address, we find that she speaks clearly to his portion and her voice becomes a record from the Lord: "The lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling."
Then she invents a curse and looses herself from her husband's household and folly... "May your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal."
What do you hear?
How did Abigail know that Nabal would still die for his sin? What did she hear? In Abigail's ability to sift, she was able to save her husband's men and preserve her household as well as loose herself from her husband Nabal. Abigail being very intelligent protected the servant of the Lord David from dirtying his hands and still secured her husband's death.
In Samuel 25:37 when Abigail told her husband all that had happened, his heart failed him and he became like a stone. About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.
But when did Abigail sift? If we look at the order of the scripture, we will see that David did not speak these words until after Abigail made all her remarks. Here's what David had to say.. "May you be blessed for your good judgement... 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."
By separating David's portion from her household wealth, Abigail was able to present herself as a servant of the Lord. She was able to hear and heed the word of the Lord, and she was able to overcome all the folly in the story.
When we read the word of God, when do we hear?
Do we hear in the good judgement of time, or do we hear after we have become sober from our folly. In the case of David, he heard in the good judgement of time and he preserved his life also.
In this year's Life of LAB "Sift", God is asking you to hear in the good judgement of time.
Continue to follow the 7-Day Quick Blog Series for more from this word and story taken from the book of Samuel.
Remember to go within that you may never go without. The God within you awaits you. Until our paths collide again, I wish you... Peace, Love, Life, and Complete Wholeness in Christ.
In Service,
NaTisha Renee Williams
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