Stopped Caring About Fellow Man

Police Officer Lt. Daniel Furseth explains why . . . 

Today, I stopped caring about my fellow man. I stopped caring about my community, my neighbors, and those I serve.

I stopped caring today because a once noble profession has become despised, hated, distrusted, and mostly unwanted.

I stopped caring today because parents refuse to teach their kids right from wrong and blame us when they are caught breaking the law. I stopped caring today because parents tell their little kids to be good or “the police will take you away” embedding a fear from year-one. Moms hate us in their schools because we frighten them and remind them of the evil that lurks in the world. They would rather we stay unseen, but close by if needed, but readily available to “fix their kid”.

I stopped caring today because we work to keep our streets safe from mayhem in the form of reckless, drunk, high, or speeding drivers, only to be hated for it, yet hated even more because we didn't catch the drunk before he killed someone they may know. Never less, we are just another tool used by government to generate "revenue".

I stopped caring today because Liberals hate the police as we carry guns, scare kids, and take away their drugs. We always kill innocent people with unjust violence. We are called bullies for using a taser during a fight, but are condemned further for not first tasing the guy who pulls a gun on us. And if we do have to shoot, we are asked “why didn’t you just shoot the gun out of their hand?” And when one of us is killed by the countless attacks that do happen (but are rarely reported in the mainstream media) the haters say, "Its just part of the job".

I stopped caring today because Conservatives hate us as we are “the Government”. We try to take away their guns, freedoms, and liberty at every turn. We represent a “Police State” where “jackbooted-badge wearing thugs” randomly attack innocent people without cause or concern for constitutional rights. We are Waco, Ruby Ridge, and Rodney King all rolled into one lone police officer stopping to help change an old lady's tire.

I stopped caring today as no one wants us around, but instantly demands answers, results, arrests, when a crime takes place. If a crime isn't solved within the allocated 60 minutes it takes CSI on television, we are inept, incompetent, or covering something up. If we do get “lucky” it was just that and everyone with a Facebook account can post wonderful comments of how “they” would solve the case and how “we” and not nearly as clever.

I stopped caring today because a video of a cop six states away, from a department that you never heard of, screws up and forgets his oath of honor, thus firing up an internet lynch-mob of cop haters because “we all do the same things” even though 99% of us work twice as hard not to end up in the news and to still be “the good guys”. We are "militarized" because we wear body armor and kevlar helmets when shots are fired or rocks thrown at us and carry scary looking rifles even though everyone knows that they are easier to shoot and are more accurate than a handgun or a shotgun.

I stopped caring today because the culture of today’s instantly connected youth is only there to take and never give back. To never accept responsibility for ones actions, but to blame everyone else instead of themselves. To ask “what is in it for me?” versus “what can I do for you?” To idolize gangsters, thugs, sexual promiscuous behavoir, and criminals over hard work, dedication, and achievement. To argue that getting stoned should be a right, yet getting a job or an education is a hassle. To steal verus earn. To hate versus help.

Yes, I stopped caring today.

But tomorrow, I will put my uniform back on,.................... and I will care again.

Lt. Daniel Furseth
DeForest Police (WI)

New Age Poem Asks What If?

A New Age Poem by

Ganga White

 What If?

What if our religion was each other?

If our practice was our life?

If prayer was our words?

What if the Temple was the Earth?

If forests were our church?

If holy water--the rivers, lakes and oceans?

What if meditation was our relationships?

If the Teacher was life?

If wisdom was self knowledge?

If love was the center of our being

  

By Ganga White

After examining the ideas in Ganga's poem, I have a few What-If questions to ask:.

What if Love is not expressed by tolerance?

If instead of tolerating it when a child walks a dark and dangerous road,

What if Love shines Light on the path which leads that child to safety?

What if our words become prayers based on God's word, offered to Him who alone can make a Difference that mere man cannot?

What if our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and He sheds abroad His great  love in our hearts To be poured out to others, a love which is impossible in our human frailty?

Holy water? Where is that? The rivers, lakes and oceans are polluted. They shall be renewed at the return of the Lord who will make a new heaven and a earth.

What if the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, not self-knowledge, for His words says the heart of man is deceitful and wicked.

What if we ask Jesus into our hearts to renew us, fill us with Himself, His righteousness, His Peace, His joy, and it overflows to bless others around us?

What if His Way is the only path to abundant life?

What if we don't find it?

Why Did God Confuse the Language at the Tower of Babel?

Could A Common Language

Usher in World Government?

I am amazed by significance of language in the story of the famed tower of Babel  in Genesis 11. Those people were attempting to build a tower that reached to heaven. 

God  decided to stop it by confusing their language. As a result, they were scattered across the whole face of the earth by God.

The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

While various explanations of this verse suggest the tower to be the first 

attempt at a one-world government and also a ziggurat for the purposes of star worship, the unity of their language is what God says will give them power to achieve whatever they want.

That is astonishing. Power to achieve whatever they want.

God clearly opposed this unity of language and stopped the tower's construction. What the builders wanted to do was not in accordance with His will.

Can it be that when the Holy Spirit is poured out on believers in the book of Acts, their new prayer language is the reversal of this confusion of speech?  A spiritual prayer language in an unknown tongue which unifies God's people in order to usher in His kingdom on the earth?  

Most theologians believe that the anti-christ will control Earth through a one-world  government. In order to do that effectively, he will need the ability to communicate. 

Consider the Internet, which can translate any language at the touch of the key board. Could this technology be the increase of knowledge spoken of by Daniel in 12: 24,  "But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase." 

I see speaking images on TV and internet every day and knowledge increases exponentially. What does all this mean?

Watch and pray. Look up, for your redemption draws nigh. Luke 21:28.

I WANT THE REAL THING, NOT A COUNTERFEIT

I HAD TO KNOW THIS WAS GOD

First I want to thank those of you who have sent word that they are learning from this blog about the biblical gift of tongues.

Second,  I want to emphasize once again that although this is an admittedly mysterious gift, it is completely supported in scripture, both Old and New Testament (regardless of some church doctrines). The verses are noted in my previous two blogs.

Third, I will say again, nobody wants to be deceived or get into a fanatical emotional experience that has no place in true worship.

Now on to my own seeking experience. Having satisfied my intellectual need to see true biblical support for the gift of speaking in tongues, I began to earnestly desire this prayer language--not unto men for no man understands it, but unto God.

I asked the Lord to show me which church I should be attending. He led me to the story of the woman at the well. Jesus effectively pointed out that the true worshippers are not--at the mountain or temple or 144th Baptist, Bapticostal, Evangelical, Roman Cathli-shionnary, etc.--but they worship in spirit and in truth.

Okay, Lord. That's what I want to do. I've been praying to receive this baptism of the Holy Spirit and I want to worship You in this spirit-inspired language and in truth, just as the apostles did throughout the New Testament. Why am I not receiving it?

By this time, I was so spiritually hungry for more of God. Yet I did not know how to receive. I had the following dialogue with the Holy Spirit over the next several days:

Lord, I want the real thing. I don't want a counterfeit. The Holy Spirit answered (He doesn't speak of Himself but brings to my remembrance the Words of Jesus):

Luke 11:11

If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he (the child) asks for  a fish, will he (the Father) for a fish give him a serpent?

So I don't have to fear a counterfeit? You won't let me be deceived?

Luke 11:13

If ye then, being evil,(natural) know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

Heavenly Father, I'm asking for the Holy Spirit. I believe this is a good gift. But nothing is happening. I no longer doubt this gift is for me. What I doubt is my worthiness to receive.

2 Cor. 5:21

For He made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (And in Rom. 3:21-22) Now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Romans 3:21–22).

This is too wonderful! Lord, you mean I can receive in Your righteousness and not my own? I don't have to do a lot of good works first? Confess some more sins? Repent again? What do I need to do?

Luke 11:10

For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Does that mean I am supposed to keep on asking? Seeking? Knocking? I don't know if I am insulting You by my persistence, but I'm not giving up.

And so it went.

I kept going forward at every meeting asking for prayer to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I held on. I let go. I did everything those tongue-praying believers recommended. I felt I must have shrunk a few inches from hands laid on my head.  

I pestered the Lord for weeks and months.

Finally one Sunday night, disappointed and discouraged, I stopped at a red light on my way home from a service and said, "Lord, I've been seeking and praying. I don't know what else to do. I'm giving up. I'm just going to open my mouth and start praising You."

Before the light turned green, I heard my own voice speaking a beautiful language that I had never learned. I knew it was language, having taught French and English, I recognized syllables and cadence. I did not know what the words meant, but I was so gratefully joyous that I drove around for an hour or so praising God in this wonderful new language, rejoicing and laughing with Him.

I knew I was experiencing the real deal described in the book of Acts. All I had to do was open my mouth!

Regarding my honest fear about the counterfeit, here's the wonderful confirmation which the Lord in His wisdom gave to me. In 1 Cor. 12: 3 I read: "Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit."

Two of the words I spoke in this private prayer language sounded like: Yay-shoo-uh Ha-Mu-shee-uhk.

I had 
no ideas what those words meant until later when I happened upon a Jewish-Christian broadcast. They are Hebrew words: Yeshua Hamashiach. They mean: Jesus the Messiah.

What more do I need? I could NOT be speaking those words "except by the Holy Spirit."

From that moment on I never doubted the experience. That was only the beginning of a new prayer life in Christ. Tomorrow I will describe what I call my Abraham moment.

Hungering and Thirsting For More of God

Hold on Sister! Let Go! (How do I manage both at the same time?)

Yesterday, I began this blog topic about understanding the purpose for the gift of tongues. I had questions. I had concern that I do not want any emotional experience, fanaticism, or deception. I found ample evidence in the New Testament that tongues is a valid, though somewhat mysterious gift from the  Holy Spirit.

      The more I read, the more I felt the Spirit of Truth prompting me to ask the Father for this prayer language. However I wanted all my questions answered before I committed myself to this prompting. I checked out library books on church doctrine. It took me about a year of serious study. I also began to attend a small country church with a co-worker at the school where I taught. She was not the typical, long-skirted, hair-piled high, thick hose and clunky-shoes lady. She dressed attractively and wore a stylish hair cut. She was well educated. I had never met anyone who had such deep faith. I  enjoyed her sense of humor. And she also prayed in tongues (privately).

         I felt a little apprehensive, not knowing what to expect at her church. Nobody rolled in the aisle. Nobody blabbered or behaved in a fanatical manner. They conducted their service with respectful order. They also did something I had never seen before in any service. They had a time for testimonies of how God had answered their prayers that week. One elderly farm wife told how she desperately needed her one and only milk cow, which was dying. Her husband planned to put it out of its misery, however she asked the Lord to heal it. The next morning he went up the hill with his gun and found the cow up and eating grass. 

     A young mother stood up and said her little 2-year-old daughter had been ill with a high fever. She prayed and said the child immediately got out of bed and ran to her, the fever gone. With tears running down her cheeks, this mother said, "And she was alright!"

      I was impressed. Clearly these people had a genuine relationship with God that I didn't have. But I wanted it. What was the difference?

      Then the pastor invited anyone who wanted to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit to come forward. I watched with intense curiosity. A young couple went to the altar, got down on their knees and began to pray. The pastor laid hands on them. They stayed at the altar a long time. I did not see them behaving with any fanaticism. Instead they rose and walked back to their pew with tears of  joy on their shining faces.

       I decided to go back to this church again.

       There is a principle of confirmation in the Bible: In the mouth of two or three witnesses, let all things be confirmed ( 2 Cor. 13: 1). I have learned to look for examples from the Old Testament which always foreshadows what happens in the life of (and life in) Christ. Of course, nobody spoke in tongues in the Old Testament, however I did find scriptures which clearly show that when the Spirit of God came upon a man he spoke supernaturally. In Numbers 11: [25] And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him (Moses), and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.

         And in I Sam 10:9-13, As [Saul] turned around to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all those signs were fulfilled that same day. And when they came there, to the Hill, he saw a band of prophets coming toward him. Thereupon the spirit of God gripped him, and he spoke in ecstasy among them.    

 So there you have it. More than two witnesses. "O that all the people might prophesy, and that the Lord would give them his spirit!" Those are the words of Moses. It's very clear that when the Lord gives His Spirit, it is accompanied by speaking words divinely inspired, Numbers 11:29.

      Eventually convinced I was on rock-solid scripture, I dared to go forward and ask to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The pastor knew I had a seeking heart. He knew I was hungering and thirsting for more of God. Sincere church people gathered around me and laid hands on my head to pray. Were they going to shove me down? I knelt there not knowing what exactly to expect. One woman instructed, "Hold on sister!" Another one said, "Let go!"

     How do I hold on and let go at the same time? I did not speak in a prayer language that night. Instead I went home somewhat disappointed. Was I unworthy of  this wonderful gift?

     I began attending a Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship which at that time was a fabulous gathering of people, men and women, who met periodically in a hotel banquet room to share their testimonies. I loved hearing their miraculous encounters with the Lord. It was like watching the book of Acts come alive in the present. I became even more hungry and thirsty for the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

     Then God, knowing my heart, gave me a most special, supernatural confirmation, which only He could bring to pass.

      I will describe it in my next blog. 

Is Speaking in Tongues a Genuine Gift?

Is Speaking in Tongues A Genuine Gift?

Like so many people I admit that the first time I heard that some believers speak in other tongues I was weirded out. Of course as I Cor. 2: 14 says, the natural mind does not understand spiritual things. Tongues? What's that? Some kind of fanaticism? I sure didn't want that label. And of course nobody wants to be deceived.

Still I kept running into people whose faith was steadfast, genuine, deep, and I discovered that they regularly prayed in tongues privately. How could that be if this is just fanaticism or an emotional experience. That sparked my interest. 

Thank goodness I had sense enough to go the Bible and the Author and Finisher of my faith and find out what this mysterious gift is about. I discovered the following:

PAUL SAID HE THANKED GOD HE SPOKE IN tongues  more than everyone (I Cor. 14: 18). Hmmm. Now why would Paul want to speak in tongues and be thankful that he did? Must be some value in it.

YES, IT IS A MYSTERY. He that speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not to men to God, for no man understand him, but in the spirit he speaks mysteries to God, Acts 14:2. Well, I liked that! A private prayer--not to men but to God--inspired by the  Spirit of Truth. . . . for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit Himself makes intercession Rom. 8:26. I reasoned, who knows how to pray as we ought all the time? Not me.

IT IS A SECOND FORM OF PRAYER. "What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also." I Cor. 14:15. I really love to pray and sing praises to God, but I run out of words from my natural mind. I know Jesus often prayed all night. I have never done that. After I thank Him and praise Him and bring my petitions before Him, my prayers barely last five minutes. After that it becomes "vain repetition," which I am sure is boring to God. But with this other language, I could pray and song as long as I wished. What a delightful thought!

THE BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT DESCRIBED IN ACTS 1 IS NOT THE SAME AS THE GIFT OF tongues described in I Cor. 12 where Paul says, "Do all speak with tongues?"  This verse underscores the fact that Paul's private prayer language is not the same as a public message in tongues which must be interpreted for the benefit of the group. Wow. A public message straight from the Spirit of Truth for the benefit of believers? I certainly liked that idea. Who wouldn't?  Then Paul lays down restrictions for public speaking in tongues but he is careful to add, "Don't forbid speaking in tongues." It's clear that he wants others to pray in this other language in private to God alone (I Cor. 14:39). This speech is clearly under the control of the believer. Besides that, the Holy Spirit is a Gentleman and He does not interrupt.

IT IS EDIFYING: One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but one who prophesies edifies the church. I Cor. 14: 4. How can it be edifying if I don't understand what I'm saying? Because in this language which bypasses my natural mind, I can trust the Holy Spirit to pray perfectly to God alone.  I don't know about you, but I cannot build up another person's faith if I'm not edified. So I began to see this is an important tool for ministry.

THE LANGUAGE CAN BE BOTH KNOWN TO MEN OR UNKNOWN. Paul describes speaking with the tongues of men or of angels, in I Cor. 13: 1. And in Acts 2: 5-6  the people from many nations heard all 120 believers, including Jesus' mother Mary, speaking in languages and understood them to be magnifying and praising God.

THE PUBLIC GIFT OF TONGUES CONVINCES UNBELIEVERS I COR. 14:22. An example of this is the Japanese war bride who went to the altar to pray with her husband, however she always prayed to Buddha and other pagan gods. Then one day she overheard a man praying quietly in his prayer  language beside her. Startled, she asked him, "How did you know that?" He didn't know what he had said, so she explained: "You just called me by my full Japanese name, which nobody in America knows, not even my husband. Then you said, 'You have tried Buddha with no answer. Why don't you try Jesus?" Needless to say, this woman asked Jesus into her heart. I want that kind of ability to bless others.

JESUS FORETOLD THIS GIFT. (actually He commanded the apostles to be filled with the Holy Ghost) And while staying with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit." verses 4 and 5 of Acts  I .

WHEN BELIEVERS RECEIVED THIS  baptism throughout the book of Acts, they clearly spoke in other tongues: And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2: 1-4; 10:47: 19:2).

THIS IS SEPARATE FROM THE SALVATION EXPERIENCE:  Acts 19:1-6: He said unto them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. So the apostles laid hands on these baptized-in-water believers and then they spoke in tongues.

THE INDWELLING GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT EVIDENCED BY SPEAKING IN TONGUES IS NOT AUTOMATIC when a believer receives Jesus as Lord (which certainly involves a work of the Holy Spirit). Jesus said one must ask the Father: So how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask .... asks whether He will not much more give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him Matt. 7: 11. Yes  I know many will argue that we receive the Holy Spirit at the new birth, and I agree. Our spirit is reborn, joined to the Spirit of Christ. However, scripture indicates there is a measure of this wonderful gift. Jesus had the Spirit without measure. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. John 3:34. (Notice this involves speaking the words of God). Who wouldn't want a greater measure of God's Spirit? I began to see a need to ask the Father for more His Spirit. But is this really for me?

THIS GIFT IS NOT JUST FOR THE APOSTLES.  The gifts of the Holy Spirit did not pass away with them. Historically they  have always been in operation. That which is Perfect (Jesus) has not yet returned the second time. Wisdom, prophecy, and tongues will not be necessary when Jesus returns but until then we "see through a glass darkly." The promise of the Holy Ghost is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call." Acts 2: 39. Well that's me. I am called to serve the Lord, and I don't want to miss anything the Lord has for me. 

Having searched the scriptures to see if these things be so as the believers did in Acts 17: 11, I found there is good scriptural reason to ask the Lord for this gift. But how do I know my gift is the real thing if I don't understand what I'm saying? My seeking experience was somewhat hilarious. I shall give an account on my next blog. 

Questions for the Wife of a Fool

Questions For The Wife of a Fool
By Guest Blogger Jodi Green. Her story will resonate with so many wives who have discovered their knight has lost his shining armor. 

1 Samuel 25 gives us the story of a wealthy, intelligent and beautiful woman named

Abigail. She is more intimidating to me than the Proverbs 31 woman. In fact, if I could go back

in history and interview anyone, it would be Abigail. Here are the questions I would ask.

So, Abigail, how does a wife submit to a man known as a fool? Throughout the centuries we have taken our hats off to you for your example of a faithful wife. But really…how did you do it? How did you take responsibility for his idiotic decisions? Obviously in ancient times you had far fewer choices than we have today. But even so, weren’t you at all tempted to tell David and his henchmen exactly where to find your drunken, foolish husband?

How did you end up married to Nabal the fool? Did your parents arrange the marriage? Did you see him with rose-colored glasses in the beginning? Was he always known as a fool, or was he respected in the community at one time? Was anyone else aware of the difficult road you walked? Was anyone your confidant?

We know from your words to David that your source of strength was supernaturally from God. We see that you obviously spent deep private moments with the King of kings. What were your deepest prayers? What did you desire most from your Creator? What did He speak to your heart in those quiet moments? Were you ever so discouraged over your circumstances that you wanted to quit? How did God let you know that He would take care of you? What did you do every day to find rest for your soul in the middle of turmoil? Were you able to spend as much time alone with God as you wanted? Did you struggle before God with the “whys” of your life?

What about your in-laws? How did you deal with the people who raised “the fool?” Did you sometimes want to give your mother-in-law a piece of your mind for how he was? Didn’t you want to ask her what she did in raising him, so that you could do the opposite with your own children?

Speaking of children, the Bible gives no record of any children from your marriage to Nabal. Was that by choice? What on earth would you have told your children about their father? Would you have tried to take responsibility for him there? Would you have tried to shelter them from knowing the truth about their father? What would you have done if any of your children had inherited his tendencies? Or worse, what if they had admired him and copied his ways?

Did you ever try to change him? How did you cope when you first realized what a fool he was? Was there any gratification in the fact that his foolish ways were well-known? Or did that bring you further humiliation? How did you remain loyal to a husband like Nabal? Where did you go in your heart to deal with your own emotional needs? Did you pretend in front of him that things were fine? Were you afraid of him?

How did you come to have such an intimate relationship with God? Was your difficult marriage the very thing that drew you closer to your heavenly Father? Were you ever angry with God for your circumstances? Were the words you said to David words that God had whispered to your own heart? Did you ever look down the long road of your future with despair? Did you wonder if you would always be able to cope with Nabal through the years? Did you ever wish he were dead?

Did having plenty of money help your situation any? Many of us with financial burdens often imagine that life would be so much easier if we had enough to pay the bills. Was it easier? Did you have any years where money was tight? Did you ever have to suffer need as the result of his foolish financial decisions? I don’t get the feeling that Nabal would have been open to any financial advice from his wife. How did you deal with that? Did you point out things to your husband? Or did you stay silent? Were you always able to leave your needs in God’s hands? Did you feel frustrated not to be able to see how you could be rescued? Did your faith ever falter under the strain?

How intimate was your relationship with Nabal? Did you long to be able to have an open and respectable conversation with him? Did you ever try to share your feelings with him? Or was it easier to just smile and keep your thoughts to yourself? Did you ever try to point out his foolish ways? How much suffering came because of his attitude toward you?

Did you stick by Nabal because you had no other options? Or was it because you vowed before God, “ ‘Til death do us part.”? Could you have gone back to your father’s house and explained the situation? Did anyone think you should just be happy to have a husband?

I want to go back to why you stood up for Nabal before David. Was that something you regularly had to do? Did you have to do that to protect your own well-being? Did you imagine what your life would be like without Nabal? Why did you protect him from David and his men? Did you not see that as a way out of a painful and difficult situation? Or was there security in knowing how things were? Your servants obviously knew about Nabal’s foolishness and they felt comfortable speaking to you openly about him. How did you keep your respectability with them?

Did you ever spend emotional energy wondering how your life would be without Nabal? Did you love him in spite of his flaws? How does a woman cope with a difficult situation that she cannot change? Did you try to change your situation? Did you long for things to be different in your marriage? Or were you always accepting of it? Were there ever any pleasant moments with Nabal? Or did you sit by the fire at night alone? How does a woman find contentment for her soul when outward circumstances scream pain and frustration? Did you struggle with contentment?

How did Nabal’s drinking affect you? Did he get drunk often or only occasionally? Did you have to make excuses for him? Or did everyone around just accept the situation and steer clear? Did you plead with him not to drink? Were you ever secretly glad that he was too drunk for conversation? Was he meaner when he was drunk? Or was he more foolish? Did you have to deal with him alone?

Did your painful marriage cause you to want to warn other women about marrying a man like Nabal? What would you have taught your own daughters about marriage? Again, we understand that in ancient times women did not have the range of choices that we have today. How did your limited options affect your ability to find contentment?

We learn so much of your character from the eight verses you spoke to David. What were you asking when you said, “But when the Lord has dealt with my lord, then remember your maidservant?” Did you have any idea that God would take you out of your situation? Was there rest and contentment in the hope of change? Or was there “peace in the valley” just knowing God was there?

How often did you have to act to prevent calamity from Nabal’s foolishness? Did you always tell him, after the fact, what you had done to save his hide? How did you feel when he collapsed over the news of his near calamity with David? Did you feel any relief over his demise? What about during the ten days before he died? Did you know he was dying? Was it difficult to care for his needs during those days? Were you afraid of being alone if something happened to him? Was you faith strong during those days, or did you struggle with doubts and fears? We think of you as such a fearless and strong woman for confronting David. Did that come from your own confidence in God’s sovereignty? Did you see everything as being held in God’s hands, as you mentioned several times to David? Did you feel “bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God?”

We also have the benefit of “the rest of the story” of how God rescued you. And frankly, life on the run as a fugitive doesn’t sound exactly “happily ever after.” What words of hope and encouragement would you give to women in a difficult situation? I’m not sure I would have been able to be thankful for the events that happened next for you. Was the birth of your son with David so precious that it made up for the pain you had been through?

How can we thank you enough, Abigail, for the powerful example you have been through the ages? Could you have foreseen the impact you would have on women in difficult, even impossible circumstances? Were you able to encourage other women during your earthly lifetime with your own deep faith? You have certainly encouraged us through the years, and I hope that, from your now eternal perspective, you are able to see how profoundly grateful we are for the life you lived here on earth. I hope that my own legacy will be even a portion of the hope and encouragement to absolute faith in God that yours has been. Thank you, Abigail.