Let us examine how Abigail,a wise woman who married a foolish but rich man,pursued peace successfully.
We have mentioned four weapons that must be available and rightly deployed to do this in one of the earlier articles. How did Abigail do it?
MAN.
In 1Samuel25:14-17,we read about the report of every good David and his six hundred men did to Nabal’s (Abigail’s husband) servants and business,through a servant who was Nabal’s.
He also reported how Nabal reviled David and his nen who demanded ‘whatever’ Nabal could afford to give them. Finally,the servant revealed to Abigail,
“Now therefore,know and consider what you will do,
for harm is determined against our master and against
all his household…”.
Abigail wasted no time to ward evil off from her household for peace to reign. She deployed her servants with the instructions,
“Go on before me;see,I am coming after you.
But she did not tell her husband Nabal” verse 19.
Note that she did not inform her husband,so his servants,including the one that reported were not engaged. She deployed her own servants,the effective and the efficient.
MACHNERY.
Abigail also deployed the available machinery effectively and efficiently,we read thus,
“…and loaded them(the presents prepared for David and his men)on donkeys.
So it was,as she rode on the donkey…”1Samuel25:18g,20a.
She saw donkeys as the right and appropriate ‘machinery’ to carry out her pursuit of peace. She did not delay in doing this.
MONEY/MATERIALS.
Take note that Abigail knew what the would-be attackers demands were,
“…Please give whatever comes to your hand
to your servants and to your son David.” verse8.
She wasted no time to take ‘…two hundred loaves of bread,two
skins of wine,five sheep already dressed
,five seahs of roasted grain,one hundred
clusters of raisins,and two hundred cakes of
figs,and loaded them
on donkeys.’
Can you clearly see the deployment of the right materials or money in her case? It has always worked and will always do.
METHOD.
There are various methods of doing things including pursuing peace. Each method must be weighed to know which will be effective and efficient.
Abigail did not get everything ready to await the arrival of those who want to attack her household.
The best method she employed was to carry all she had prepared to meet them on the way.
‘Abigail made haste and took…’verse 18a.
In verse nineteen,she sent her servants ahead of her with a promise to follow them,which she did.
It was a wise method. She may have chosen to send the servants to an angry David,who had determined not to
“…leave one male of all who belong to him(Nabal) by morning light.” 1Samuel25:22.
Besides all that she had presented to David and his men,she honored David. She called David ‘my lord’ and called herself ‘your(David’s) maidservant.
She bowed down before David. She did not see herself as ‘the wife of a rich man’. She wisely humbled herself. She volunteered to declare herself guilty of the offence Nabal,her husband committed. Read details in verses 23-31.
Can you now see clearly,how Abigail wisely deployed all the four Ms to pursue peace?
She did so effectively and efficiently and her territory (household) was in peace. No external attack disturbed the peace reigning in her home.
Now be convinced that you can also attain the feat of pursuing peace as Abigail did. The ball is in your court. Go ahead and do likewise.

Let us examine how Abigail,a wise woman who married a foolish but rich man,pursued peace successfully.
We have mentioned four weapons that must be available and rightly deployed to do this in one of the earlier articles. How did Abigail do it?
MAN.
In 1Samuel25:14-17,we read about the report of every good David and his six hundred men did to Nabal’s (Abigail’s husband) servants and business,through a servant who was Nabal’s.
He also reported how Nabal reviled David and his nen who demanded ‘whatever’ Nabal could afford to give them. Finally,the servant revealed to Abigail,
“Now therefore,know and consider what you will do,
for harm is determined against our master and against
all his household…”.
Abigail wasted no time to ward evil off from her household for peace to reign. She deployed her servants with the instructions,
“Go on before me;see,I am coming after you.
But she did not tell her husband Nabal” verse 19.
Note that she did not inform her husband,so his servants,including the one that reported were not engaged. She deployed her own servants,the effective and the efficient.
MACHNERY.
Abigail also deployed the available machinery effectively and efficiently,we read thus,
“…and loaded them(the presents prepared for David and his men)on donkeys.
So it was,as she rode on the donkey…”1Samuel25:18g,20a.
She saw donkeys as the right and appropriate ‘machinery’ to carry out her pursuit of peace. She did not delay in doing this.
MONEY/MATERIALS.
Take note that Abigail knew what the would-be attackers demands were,
“…Please give whatever comes to your hand
to your servants and to your son David.” verse8.
She wasted no time to take ‘…two hundred loaves of bread,two
skins of wine,five sheep already dressed
,five seahs of roasted grain,one hundred
clusters of raisins,and two hundred cakes of
figs,and loaded them
on donkeys.’
Can you clearly see the deployment of the right materials or money in her case? It has always worked and will always do.
METHOD.
There are various methods of doing things including pursuing peace. Each method must be weighed to know which will be effective and efficient.
Abigail did not get everything ready to await the arrival of those who want to attack her household.
The best method she employed was to carry all she had prepared to meet them on the way.
‘Abigail made haste and took…’verse 18a.
In verse nineteen,she sent her servants ahead of her with a promise to follow them,which she did.
It was a wise method. She may have chosen to send the servants to an angry David,who had determined not to
“…leave one male of all who belong to him(Nabal) by morning light.” 1Samuel25:22.
Besides all that she had presented to David and his men,she honored David. She called David ‘my lord’ and called herself ‘your(David’s) maidservant.
She bowed down before David. She did not see herself as ‘the wife of a rich man’. She wisely humbled herself. She volunteered to declare herself guilty of the offence Nabal,her husband committed. Read details in verses 23-31.
Can you now see clearly,how Abigail wisely deployed all the four Ms to pursue peace?
She did so effectively and efficiently and her territory (household) was in peace. No external attack disturbed the peace reigning in her home.
Now be convinced that you can also attain the feat of pursuing peace as Abigail did. The ball is in your court. Go ahead and do likewise.

David pursued peace successfully but it was not easy for him. As we shall see later,he was not as fortunate as Abigail who also pursued peace successfullyg.
The latter was informed of the impending danger about to befall her household,while the former actually got his household successfully invaded and set ablaze.
David’s was the worst that could befall any household. A man or woman in such a situation can lose hope. David was also hopeless in his. Any man or woman can weep in such a condition. David wept. The Bible records,
‘Then David and the people who were with him
lifted up their voices and wept,until they had no more power to weep.’ I Samuel 30:4
Any man or woman can be so easily distressedg. One thing common to most people is to resign to ‘fate’. They will remain in their state of hopeless permanently or for a very long period.
David did not do this. What did he do?
‘But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God’. I Sam.30:8a-e
After this,he inquired from God whether to pursue the troop or not;whether he will recover or not. The Lord answered him,
“Pursue,for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.” verse8f-g
At the words of the Lord,he swung into action. He deployed everything at his disposal to recover all,including peace of his household.
MAN
He wasted no time to pursue. The Bible says,
‘So David went,he and the six hundred men
who who were with him,and came to the Brook Besor,…’verse9
David put all men with him to work. They went after the enemies of their peace. They pursued peace by chasing their enemies.
It is worthy of note that in David’s zeal to recover all,he engaged the effective and efficient as well as those that were not.
It was God who helped him to separate them. He separated the men of war with David who were not effective and efficient for that particular assignment from those that were. Verse ten reveals,
‘But David pursued,he and four hundred men for two hundred stayed behind,who were so weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor.’
It is not every man that is effective and efficient on every given role. So, the right and appropriate person must be engagedg.
Let me not forget the role of Abiathar the priest. He was the first man helped David by giving him an ephod with which he inquired from the Lord in vese 7.
MACHNERY
David employed every machinery(weapon) at his disposal. He started with an ephod but he did not stop there. He armed himself with all his men with available weapon of war to chase their enemies. He was known very well as a man of war. I want to believe this:the sword of Goliath could not be excluded from among the ones he engaged. To David,at the start of his life’s war,’there was none like it’. ISamuel 21:8-9
MONEY/MATERIALS
David put materials to work for him. He employed every effective and efficient materials. Those that will not work for positive results were left out for future use.
This was made known in verse 11-12 thus,
‘Then they found an Egyptian in the field,
and brought him to David;and
they gave him bread and ate,and
they let him drink water.
And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and
two clusters of raisins. So
when he had eaten,his strength came back to him,
for he had eaten no bread nor drink water for three days and nights.’
It was this Egyptian,a servant of David’s enemy,that guided them to the camp of David’s enemies where he recover all.
Can you see the role of effectively and efficiently deploying bread,water,cake and raisins? Note that water and not wine was given!
MEANS/METHODS
As an experienced man of war,David did not rely on his prowess as a worrior. He inquired from the Lord before embarking on chasing the enemies.
Not only this,he was not overzealous to kill the Egyptian who,with his master invaded David’s household.He fed the enemy. He gave him water to drink.
He asked him relevant questions that provided the necessary information that was useful to recover all.
Take note also that he did not delegate the assignment to anybody. He went with his men. He was also available.
His men may not have used his approach to get a hint on how to trail the invaders. At the end,David recovered all.
Do you know that as a man,if you pursue peace,you will get it? No matter how distressed you are about your household;employ all the four Ms at your disposal effectively and efficiently,peace will be restored to your household.
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