Women's Ministry Seminar: A Woman of Great Influence

'A woman of great influence' is the theme we have for this day. We as human beings are highly relational, especially women, right? Wherever we are, we are making contact with other people, and we have a circle of influence, and that great circle of influence is made up of many smaller circles of influence.

Think right now, where do you move? Think, what are small circles of influence? Raise your hand and I ask you to say, let's see. What is the most logical? The family, right? And within the family we could say, the relationship with the husband, the relationship with the children and the extended family, right? So even within the family there are many small circles.

In what other circle do we move? Exactly, your neighborhood, your neighborhood, where you live. And there are different people there, right? with whom you relate in different ways. Work, and even at work there are co-workers, there are customers, right? the clients' parents. There are all kinds of connections.

If you attend school, well your school, and if not your children's school, you can belong to the parents' society, interact there. She goes looking for them, brings them, there she interacts with other moms.

What other places? The shopping center, the mall. We sometimes meet people there who we haven't seen or have had the opportunity to interact with an employee in a while, so... And if we go to a place regularly, we already have a relationship, sometimes even by name: Oh How are you so-and-so? Fine and you?

We can also influence the country we live in. That is having vision, beyond where we are, because from where we are, locally, we can think globally and have a global impact, right? and sometimes small efforts have repercussions for the nation, so you also have to think big, right? When you pray for the president of your nation, for its rulers, you are influencing in some way, even if you never have contact with that person.

What else can you think of? With the church, right? and within the church there are many small circles: the cells, the women's ministry, discipleship, the people you talk to on Sundays, so there is another circle, the children's ministry, there are so many circles that I wouldn't give time to mention.

Anything else you can think of? Work, home, the hairdresser, right? I already go to the same hairdresser for about 6, 7 years. I have the same hairdresser for ten years, but she already has her hairdresser for about 4 years, so we already know each other. We ask about the family, we talk about the Lord, there she is a charismatic Catholic and she puts little pages there and we have very deep conversations.

The bank, too, that is, all the businesses that we frequent, right? the supermarket, the restaurants, the neighborhood, that is, they are all small circles of influence that make up our large circle of influence. So nobody can say that they don't have interactions where they can influence in some way and we hope positively.

And the world has taken advantage of that ability that we have to be influenced, right? All human beings have a capacity, others are influenced. We have been influenced by the Gospel, it is a positive influence, what we have to learn is which ones we have to reject and which ones we have to embrace.

Why do you think companies pay billions of dollars a year to advertise their products, telling them that their toothpaste is the best, the one that's best for us; the car is the one that suits us best; Are these clothes of this style the most appropriate? For this reason, because they know that human beings are very influenced by that.

and in fact, sometimes on a movie that companies know is going to be a big hit, sometimes they pay millions of dollars to have their product, let's say a soda, run for 30 seconds on it. .... or the superbowl 30 seconds sometimes a product, but you know that if people are exposed to it, saw it like that, they're going to think 'ah, this product is worth trying for me. I'm going to try it. And finally, their expectation is that they not only try it, but that they sponsor it.

So in other words, there are influences still of that kind, and there are other influences... Those are, let's say, maybe a little more neutral, although in the world of the Christian there is nothing neutral. I learned that, so there is nothing neutral in the world. And I looked at him a little strange, because at that time he was more spiritual than me. He was a long way ahead of me, so I didn't understand that. And he told me, 'No, there is nothing, nothing that is neutral in the world, nothing has a neutral value.' And I have learned that it is also. Everything we do has a positive or a negative mark, but there is really nothing in between, in spiritual terms.

And likewise, in the world we are exposed to many negative influences, mundane concepts that harm us, to name a few, that we could mention thousands of them, for example: the economic part. I have to maintain my lifestyle, so if I get 5 different credit card applications in the mail I will fill them all out. After I pay it monthly, there is no problem. But there one is establishing a relationship of materialism that is not convenient, right? And many of us fall into that, the most subtle way, like when we come to see, we open the wallet and we already have 5 or 6 cards. Not just the one we needed at the beginning, but 5 or 6. That takes away our peace, sometimes marriage affects us, and all this because we're confused, right? a good Caribbean word.

Another lie, or another mundane concept is: marriage is 50. My husband makes 50, I make 50 and in all aspects of marriage. That's not so, is it? We know that each one has to give one hundred percent, right? because otherwise it becomes something legalistic.

Another thing could be, I can live with one foot in the church and one foot in the world, totally the Lord understands. He knows about my struggles, he understands. So one day here and one there. Someday maybe when I'm old then I get fully involved. That is another lie or another worldly mentality.

And the other thing is to give a higher priority to the natural aspect of my being, versus the supernatural aspect, right? When in reality we are supernatural beings who live in a natural package. In other words, it is the opposite, our truth is that we are eternal natural beings. God created us eternal and put us in this package because it is what allows us to talk, move from one place to another, get into the car, bless, walk, work, that is, all these things are allowed by this body that we have, TRUE? But in reality we have to give much more attention to the supernatural in us.

That is what truly determines the beauty of a woman: what is inside, right? not the external, that the external must be taken care of, with exercises, with diet, your makeup, your tint to cover gray hair, if you want to cover them. All those things are holy and good, but first you have to pay more attention to what's inside, right?

So if we want to be truly healthy and have a holy influence on others, we must first examine what influences we have allowed to dominate us. And it is very easy, it is very easy to fall into worldly influence, very, very easy. We do it every day and sometimes we have to stop and realize, 'No, that's not what God wants,' and go back and walk the walk and ask for forgiveness and move on.

In other words, we have to be vigilant about that, what ideas, what thoughts dominate our being. And we have to be responsible in that process, not only for the well-being of ourselves but for the well-being of others. Because the more you are influenced by the Gospel and the less by the world, the better influence you will be towards others, right? It's going to be a purer, healthier influence on others.

And the interactions we have on a day-to-day basis are excellent opportunities for us to exert a positive influence on others. Many times we underestimate the importance of that, and sometimes there are little things you can do, a little interaction with someone that can change the course of that life for a lifetime, sometimes little things.

I'm going to give you an example from my mom's life, many years ago when I was a child. I remember that I was there, there was a lady in church one Sunday who was in depression and she was prostrate in depression. My mom approached her and simply all my mom did was hug her, ask her how are you? She vented a bit. He hugged her and cried with her and declared to her the word of life. A simple thing, it was 4 minutes maximum.

That woman, a few years later she converted...she still preaches, she is 75 or 76 years old, she preaches and on many occasions she has testified that that was the moment in which God raised her up. You know, she had lost hope in her life, in her purpose for God, and that small gesture of love, from a person who didn't even know her, helped her rise up and have hope. Such a trifling thing. right yes? What does it cost each of us to take a little time like this with another person? So we must not underestimate the influence that we have on others.

And in fact, we are ambassadors of the King, we are not just any old thing. Wherever we are, an ambassador of the King has arrived, not proud of anything, but because God has allowed us the privilege of serving him. And there is a verse in Matthew 5, 13 to 16. If you want, listen or you can also mark it if you want. It is a well-known passage that supports what I just said about each one of us being part of God's army.

It says like this: “... you are the salt of the earth but if the salt vanishes, what will it be salty with? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and pitted by men. You are the light of the world. A city sitting on a mountain cannot be hidden, nor can a light be turned on, nor is it placed under an avalanche, but on a candlestick and it gives light to all who are in the house. So – this is the challenge for you and me – so let your light shine before men so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven..."

So, Notice that one has learned many times, 'you don't have to be humble. What I do I have to do in secret, that no one knows....' But, we have to be.... of course, it's not that one is boasting that 'look, say so and I helped so-and-so.. No, these things must be maintained, but at all times our good behavior must reflect that we are the light of the world and the salt of the earth, as this passage says.

And on this day we are going to meditate, as I said before, about how we can be women of influence or be even more successful in that task of being women of influence. And we are going to take as a starting point the life of a woman who, although she lived many years ago, in Old Testament times, continues to be a model of an excellent woman of influence. This woman was able to impact her circle of influence in a very powerful way and we are going to connect with the fascinating story of Abigail found in the first book of Samuel, Chapter 25. It is quite a long passage, we are not going to read it but rather I am going to give you a background, some features of her life.

How many of you know, out of curiosity, know about Abigail's life? So, I would say that maybe like the third part, others have heard it mentioned and... It's a very beautiful story, I recommend it...

He wasn't worse than stingy, I hope I would have been stingy.... I was perverse and foolish.

So in due time I encourage you to read the full story, it's in the first book of Samuel, Chapter 25 from 1 to 39. It's very, very interesting. In fact, those who know us a little better know that our youngest daughter is called Abigail. We gave her that name because we thought the story was very beautiful and we decided... We didn't name her because of the novel that was precisely at the time she was born. And sometimes they would tell me, 'oh, you named your daughter Abigail for the novel'. Me, 'No, no, because of the novel'. On one occasion I put it for the first book of Samuel, I'm going to tell you the story so you can see where that beautiful name comes from.

So, outline Abigail's story and then you read it. About three thousand years ago in Israel, days after the great prophet Samuel died, which you must have read about that prophet, David and his warriors were from one place to another, but they were out in the open. They did not have a place to live and it was very scarce, they were hungry and in need. They slept in the desert, in the caves, in the field because at that time David was not yet.... although he had been anointed king, he had not yet occupied the position of king and there was still Saul, the king Saul who was king in that time, running away....he was the one who was running away, continuously chasing him to kill him, right? That was the historical context of what was happening at the time.

And David and 600 of his warriors were moving to and fro, and at one time they were near a city called Carmel and they knew that Nabal was there, and he was a very, very rich man. , he had many sheep and many goats, says the word, and he was very rich, he was a landowner. He was there with his shearers. Do you know, a shearer is someone who cuts the wool from the sheep after the sheep are already a certain size, the wool has grown, because from time to time the wool grows again, so they come back and cut it and with that they made fabrics? TRUE? So it was a way of life, a way of working.

And they were shearing the sheep in Carmel at Nabal's farm and after this happened there was always a banquet. At the end of shearing the sheep there was a great banquet, so David, as an intelligent man who knew very well what was happening around him, had intelligence, commanded and found out to see what was happening.... -And remember that he was fleeing so he had to have his little antennas well prepared to be able to know what was happening around him.- .... he decides to ask him, to send ten of his warriors, there were 600 that he had, to where Nabal went ask him to provide food. In other words, he sent these messengers to give him a personal greeting from David and also asked him for food, basically 'we are hungry, we know you have food so please, humbly, courteously, please help us with the food.' he reminded him that he and his warriors had well protected Nabal's herdsmen, who had been in the field with them.

Remember that at that time there were many dangers, there were wild animals, there were thieves, so these warriors served as a protection fence for Nabal's shepherds, they had served him that way. So he sends his ten messengers to Nabal, but Nabal took the request very badly and not only denied it, but also sent an insult to David.

Imagine, sending an insult to a warrior with 600 armed men is a little bit dangerous. But he did it, he was a foolish man like you... we'll see later. So he denied David's request. When David found out, as he was a warrior man, he was filled with anger, and his first impulsive reaction, without thinking of anything, was '400 of my men, come gird your swords, we are going to take revenge for this slight. We are going to kill Nabal and all the men in his house.’ That was David’s reaction.

So each one mounted his horse, sheathed his sword and headed towards Carmel to where Nabal and his men were. But in the meantime, remember that there was a distance between one place and another, a man, a servant of Nabal who had listened, who had been present when these ten warriors arrived to ask him for food, realized the imminent danger that fell upon him. his house. So she ran, she didn't go to complain to Nabal, but she ran to the house, to the farm to talk to Abigail and urge her to do something because death was coming to her house.

In other words, that man understood what Nabal could not understand. We have just insulted a person, a warrior, an anointed of the Lord, so there will be some consequences of this action of my master. And then she ran to Abigail to alert her to what was happening. She immediately mobilized to her house, and not if you read the story and saw everything she collected; he prepared or set aside a very generous offering for David and his men, which included stewed sheep, raisins, fig bread and other things, roasted grain. So she immediately prepared all that and said 'Put those on donkeys and run to where David is with his men'

...they knew the way they were going to take on the way here.

And not only with that, she not only sent the provision, but she immediately also got on her donkey and went through a trail that she knew in the mountains to get there first, or at least get to the same time as the economic provision. And when David saw it, he humbly prostrated himself on the ground and the first thing he did was apologize, tell him, 'look, sorry, I wasn't there, that's why that happened. If I had been present, if I had been a more responsible woman, if I had been present when your men arrived, this would not have happened. I would have given them food.'

And in a way, she excused her husband's foolishness, right? So, thanks to God, everything happens well, she expresses herself very well, she speaks prophetically in David's life, pronouncing prosperity about the call that David has, she makes him see how terrible he is facing, how terrible the massacre plan he had .

David realizes that this was not from God and thanks her, expresses his respect to her, his gratitude that she, in time, intervened in the way before he committed such a thing. atrocity, of killing innocent people. And then she, Abigail, concludes, he accepts the offering, the soldiers go back the way they came, relief comes, there was no longer going to be mortality in the house. She returns to the house as if nothing had happened, attends to her guests – remember that she still had a great banquet in the house – attends there.

At that moment he decides not to speak to Nabal because Nabal was drunk, had been drunk, and in addition to other more bad qualities, because he had the bad quality of being drunk too, the poor man. So there was nowhere to grab him. So he doesn't say anything to him at that moment because he intelligently acknowledges "I'm not going to talk to this man now because he's not going to understand what I'm saying." He waits for the next day when Nabal has already worn off the effects of the wine, and then he tells him what was going to happen.

What happened? The shock was so great for him, from the fright of what was prevented from happening that he does not say the word exactly what happened to him, but it seems that it was either cardiac syncope or a heart attack, a cerebrovascular accident, any of those big things. The point is that he died after ten days.

So that's Abigail's story. It's very interesting, isn't it? You can make a good novel out of that... a good movie out of that interesting story.

So what we're going to do now is see what it was that allowed Abigail to be a woman of influence, of such influence in that situation in her life, or in her life in general. There were 4 things: first, she was a woman with a good reputation or a good testimony; she was a woman who had emotional balance; he had the leadership; and had wisdom. Those are the 4 things that we are going to see, which were qualities that Abigail had that we want to emulate.

The first is that they were a woman of excellent testimony. In verse 3 of the passage we have just commented on, it says that “... that man, that is, the husband, was called Nabal and his wife Abigail. It was that woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance, but the man was hard and bad deeds and was of the lineage of Caleb...”

So that verse establishes a contrast there, right? between two reputations: Nabal's reputation versus Abigail's reputation. They are totally different from each other. One wonders how they can mix that, like you don't mix, for example, vinegar and oil. As much as they apparently mix, they separate immediately, in reality there is no cohesion between the two substances. Well, that's how Abigail and Nabal were, totally different.

Each of us has a reputation. You knew that, right? Each has a reputation. We influence others with who we are and more than anything with our testimony. Testimony is very important. No one can say 'I don't care what they think of me'. That's like there's a saying that says 'whatever they want, they don't pay my rent'. But that is not true, it is important what people think of us, right? It hurts me when someone thinks something wrong about me, and if it's right I fix it right away so I can be a better person.

So testimonial or reputation is such an important thing that it still gets to a place before ourselves, sometimes our reputation precedes us. TRUE? before we get to a place people may already be talking, 'ah, how good, aunt so-and-so is coming here, she is so good. She cooks some delicious tostones and she's so kind and tells us stories...'

I mean, it can be something positive and she also still stays in one place after we've left, because there are still comments . ‘Look, when so-and-so passed here, this....’ saying positive or negative things. So we all have a reputation and we have to protect and guard it, right? as much as we can. Because a bad reputation turns others away from God and a good reputation becomes the platform from which we minister God's presence. That is so important, wherever, as we said at the beginning 'we are ambassadors'.

The current us in a certain way, someone can tell us, 'And how did you solve this difficult situation in your life? When you were going through that, how was it that I didn't stop saying ugly things about so-and-so, but I saw you controlled, I saw you praying, how did you do that? It's an opportunity for one to say, 'Look, I didn't do that by my own strength, I did it in the power of the Lord, out of obedience.' But, well, he did it and look how good the results were. In other words, it gives us an opportunity, a platform to talk about God and his purposes and his power. So that is extremely important.

If you were to think like this with transparency, with humility before God, you would ask yourself this question: what do others think of you? In English there is a concept that says, 'fly on the wall', 'a mosquito on the wall'. If you could be a bug on the wall when others are talking about you, what would they say? what would you hear they would say about you? Would they say positive things, would they say negative things, a mix of positive and negative? What would they say? Would they think that you add something to your life or take something away from your life? Do they receive something when you are there or do you extract something when you are there and take everything? It is a very valid question that we all have to ask ourselves because once again it is... it is not only our testimony, our name involved, but the name of the Lord as well. Thus, it is something that we always have to be aware of and always ask ourselves if the way in which we proceed in all the different contexts of our lives, if they bring honor to God. Sometimes, perhaps in some contexts we do, and in others we take liberties that are not our responsibility, right? In other words, we are very aware of that, of how we manage our presence, so to speak, in the different contexts in which we move.

If we were to come up with a list of qualities in Abigail's life, even with that limited number of verses, it's only one page, but even there we could list the qualities that we see in the that woman's life. So imagine how much more in you, that people are seeing you in 3D, right? We see Abigail from the perspective of 3000 years later, it's just written, we're not seeing her. However, they see us in flesh and blood, in spirit, that is, in all ways, so people are going to form an opinion about us.

By reading I can discern that Abigail has several qualities among them, she was as the same word says, she was an understanding, wise woman, she is diligent, she knows her time, she knew about the life of David. We are thinking of a woman who was involved in a hacienda there and knew everything that was happening politically in her time. In other words, she was attentive to the times. She was organized, she was brave, she was sure of herself. perfect? It sure wasn't, was it? like none of us is perfect, but she was a woman who gave good testimony at all times.

When we are born, I have an idea that I have, that God is as if God gave each of us a scroll, right? a scroll of our life. On one side is written all the purpose of God for our life, because we know from before we were born, God already has a purpose for our lives. He has already determined what gifts he is going to deposit throughout our lives. He has already determined many things, how he is going to use us. But then there is that part of our scroll, the other part is the one where we write, because we are not God's puppets, right? God made us free beings, that is, we have the option to choose. So in one part of the scroll is what God says, what God has written, the purpose, the desire of God, the will of God; and elsewhere is what we decide to write on the parchment of our lives.

And I believe that sometimes, what God has written matches what we write on our part. But in many cases it is not so. God has written one thing and we have decided to live in a totally different way. And in Abigail's life, well, I assume that in many parts she did live a life according to God's purpose. So that is another thing that we have to be aware of, how we live our lives, because it is a book that others read.

There is a verse in the Bible that says this, that we are open books. So as much as you want to close it, be covered, there is no way. Others are going to read it because you are an open book, the word says so.

So we have already seen that Abigail could be influenced primarily by her reputation, or by her testimony. That's the first thing.

Secondly, she was also able to be a person of influence because she learned to deal with the weight of emotional wounds and develop emotional balance.

If we look at who Abigail lived with, right? A man who was wicked, bad deeds, no one could get close to him, foolish, do you think she didn't live a hard life? right yes? It would be impossible to think that she was married to that man and lived a rosy life. It is impossible. She must have received a lot of rejection, had a lot of hurts in her marriage and all the others that would be added to it. And despite being married to Nabal, as I said before, her name means, Nabal means fool; Despite being married to him, who was harsh and bad deeds, she was not filled with depression, she was not filled with anger, she did not take it out on others for the bad treatment she received from her husband. I mean, we don't see any of that. Remember what her reputation was like: she was known as a woman of good understanding, so she had a good reputation on the hacienda, in the town where she lived, contrary to her husband.

And yet she didn't let that throw her off balance and we see in the story that an unbalanced woman doesn't function the way Abigail functioned in that passage. In other words, she did not allow herself to be contaminated by Nabal's evil and contrary to her husband, Abigail's balanced character allowed her to be a resource to others. With Nabal they went the furthest from him, with Abigail, Abigail was a magnet, she attracted others because she always had something....was a resource to others.

That's one of my goals in life, to be a resource to others. It can be a resource in three minutes, in one, in five, in years, but one has something in one that allows at some point to give a word of help, advice, share a testimony, whatever, but all of us must be resource for others in the circle where we move.

I believe that most of the wrong decisions, or the attitudes that damage or destroy relationships are based on our resistance to embracing God's truth. The word of God says that we forgive, that we still love our enemies, however, many times we decide to stay in our comfort zone, which is comfortable for us. So there we do not forgive, we do what we want.

And what about that? We add more wounds to the wounds that already exist, right? because we are not breaking that cycle of problems that we have gotten ourselves into. And many times instead of wishing for the healing of our wounds, we persist in getting mileage from the wounds and how sad that is because years and years go by, we are 20, we are 25, 30, 35, 80 and we are still carrying the same sack of wounds that we were 20 or 25 years old, but even heavier because more years have passed, the roll is heavier, the bag that we carry, and also things get worse.

That's why you sometimes see old women who, instead of reflecting beauty and lightness, freedom of spirit, what they have is a burden, their faces show bitterness, resentment, you don't see a clear face. None of us want that, we want to be free of all that.

Look, and wanting to heal from wounds is the most difficult thing. That is the greatest struggle of the human being. It's coming to a point in your life where you recognize that you need help in that particular area. And I know that if we could talk about the things that have happened to each one of you, you have a lot to tell about those times in your life where there was a wound so great that the temptation was to stay there, immersed in the wound. But that is not what God wants.

And, in fact, the Lord, do you remember when he was at the gate of Bethesda and called the paralyzed man who had been there for many years, like that directly, he did not ask him 'oh, poor thing, how long have you Have you been sitting there without moving? did you eat today? Did someone bring you a sandwich? No, you didn't ask him any of that, what are you asking him? He tells him do you want to be healthy? That is the first question for all of us: do we want to be healthy or do we want to stay there in that situation? And there comes a time when instead of dominating emotions we allow emotions to dominate us.

In Abigail's life, obviously she must have gone through a lot of pain in her life, but she didn't allow the pain to bring her down, but rather used it to grow in many areas and she dominate him. That is the struggle, it happens to men too, but I know that it happens to women more than anything. It is a continuous struggle, it is that we are thinkers at the maximum power. The slightest little thing happens to us and we're just go ahead.... The wheels of the mind, go ahead, go ahead,.... the interior monologues, the memories of the past.

Actually, I remember a little joke I heard once: there was a man who told another man about his marital problems and said, 'when I do something wrong my wife gets upset. historical', and the man says, 'historical? You mean hysterical,' he says, 'No, historical, it reminds me of everything I've done in the last 20 years.'

And really, aren't we like that? I don't know if it happens to you, but sometimes I even remember the clothes I had, the clothes that the person who offended me had, the one who offended me, where we are, what day it was, a privileged mind in that sense. I would like to have it like this in other areas as well. But that's how we are, right?

So what's going on? First it is the mind, the fight in the mind, but then that remains as a wound that is never resolved. And many times we cannot resolve the wounds with people. There are many occasions when we will not be able to speak, we will not be able to go to the person to tell them and have a resolution. That is often not possible, especially in situations where one has been abused in some way, it is not possible. But, it is possible to go before the Lord and make a deal with him, because we are responsible for what wounds we allow to take root in our hearts, in our minds and dominate us. And it is a fight, it is a pitched fight many times.

And it happens to all of us in big ways and in small ways. I know you all agree that we all handle that kind of thing sometimes more often than we should? But nevertheless we have a God who is extremely powerful, who in him are the resources. What we have to first recognize our need and go before the Lord, ask for forgiveness on our part, because we have participated in the matter many times, right? Ask for forgiveness on our part and invoke wisdom, God's forgiveness on that, and may he be whoever he is. And then have a long-term mentality of knowing, 'look, this is not going to be solved by tomorrow, but soon, tomorrow will be better'.

And I have had situations like this where I say, wow, this sadness that I have, when is it going to go away? But I declare to the Lord, I say, 'Lord, tomorrow when I get up, this will be better, and the weight will not be so great.' . And I tell him, 'Lord, and tomorrow will be even less than today'.

And so we continue to walk with confidence, without allowing what has happened to us to harm others, right? Because many times homes are contaminated. Have they noticed? Because? Because one person contaminates the environment, another reacts to what is happening and when he comes to see it is an imbalance in the home, and now peace is gone, people are now so tied up, because it is more important to show toughness than simply want to improve the situation. Just like the brave women that we are, we have to face these things and do our part, let's not wait for someone else to do it.

How are we going to be in the same situation for years of our lives? The same, the same, the same. No tomorrow. Tonight they have to be better than today in the morning. Tomorrow they have to be better than today, because in God there is power for all that. Although it is a difficult process, it pays big dividends. And when one looks back, and one rejoices and almost thanks God for what has happened, almost, because sometimes one says, I don't want to go back there, I don't want to go through that again. But when one looks at how one was before, and after, one realizes that one has grown, that one is already a better person. It can be a better influence because of the experience that it has known how to handle well.

Because there are experiences that are sometimes small, but when mishandled they become big... they hurt a lot, they hurt us and they hurt others. So don't let anyone tell you, look, there's no solution to that. No, sometimes the situation is not going to be resolved, but our hearts, even when the situation is not resolved, can be above that and can have joy. That is what we have to recognize: if God requires us to be clean, pure beings or to have good relationships with others, he would not ask us if it were not possible, would he? God does not require anything that is not possible. And everything he asks of us is because he knows that there is power in him and because he knows that we can with him.

So when you sit there in the barracks, wherever you are, when you are on the battlefield, remember that tomorrow will be better if you know how to dominate what is strongly tempted to dominate. So when the Lord asks you, do you want to be healed? When you have that voice of the spirit that tells you, do you want to be healed of it or do you want to stay there? You tell her, 'I want to be healthy,' and do battle in prayer, share it with someone, don't suffer alone. Sometimes we have this thing that we want to suffer alone and sometimes that is part of the same picture of depression, for example, that we feel isolated. Let's not suffer alone. There has to be someone, there has to be a woman with whom we can share our hearts and get that out of us. So if the Lord asks us do you want to be healed? Which is the answer? Yes, of course I do, I want to be healthy.

So we saw two things already, that Abigail was influential because of her reputation and because she had poise or emotional balance, two of Abigail's qualities. The third quality that Abigail had is that she was a wise woman. He had wisdom, he had understanding. And in fact, understanding is the same as practical wisdom, it is how one resolves situations in life. That is wisdom.

What good is it for one to have great knowledge up here if it doesn't translate into life effectiveness? TRUE? It's useless actually. So from the beginning of the passage we saw that she was well known, her reputation was that she was a woman of great understanding, of good understanding. And because wisdom is not only knowing but putting into practice what we know at the precise moment we have to do it. Because if we put it at the wrong time, it is no longer wisdom, it is messing up, making a mistake.

And wisdom is gained day by day, right? Have you ever known a child who was born wise? right not? I have not met any. Quite the opposite. One looks at them and says, let them grow so that they have a little more wisdom. We are not born with wisdom, it is something that we acquire over time, but not for time. Because we all live the same time, right? If you compare two 40-year-old women, perhaps one is wise and the other is not. It's how she's used time and what has allowed her to influence her, right? There is a difference, it is something that we gain directly by dealing with God.

I remember things that I thought when Christ was not my personal savior, and then how I began to think later, it was totally different. I was healthy before the Lord, healthy in the sense that I was not thinking immoral things or anything like that, but there was no wisdom in me, on the contrary when I met the Lord and began to understand his word more, to observe As mature Christian women moved, I was learning and my life became something totally different and I began to be a woman of influence that I was not before because I did not have that grace from the Lord. That's for everything. The Lord is there for all of us, to guide us and give us wisdom.

She was a woman who knew God and in fact her name, Abigail means 'the joy of my father', that is, the joy of my Heavenly Father, that is what Abigail means by That's why we gave our baby that name: the joy of my father. Because every wise woman is the joy of her Heavenly Father, and it is the joy of those around her as well because they benefit from her wisdom, right?

And the word says that the fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Most High, intelligence. So it is not how many books we have read and how many universities, what degrees we have, but the fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom. And the word asks us directly in James 3:13, there is a verse that has to do exactly with this, which says:

“... who is wise and understanding among you?.... ” And he asks himself in that same verse, is the answer to the question, he says “.... show your works in wise meekness by good conduct”.

So again it has to do with behavior, because wisdom is something you see. You can see who is wise, who is not wise, who makes wise decisions, who does not make wise decisions. And also the word tells us that whoever lacks wisdom, what? ask for it and it will be given to you. And it will not be given to him in a small quantity, but abundantly and without reproach.

So in other words, wisdom is there for all of us to reach it, feed on it, grow on it. So that is for everyone, it is not for the chosen ones but for each one of us. And wisdom is not useful for us to adorn ourselves intellectually, but to make decisions that are beneficial and serve as the foundation for even better decisions tomorrow.

As I told you, that is, it is not from one day to the next, but one makes good decisions today, and that serves as a foundation for the best decisions tomorrow. And so we grow in wisdom. As the word says that when Jesus grew up, he grew, not only in stature, but also in wisdom, right? This is how we should be, always growing in wisdom.

Because we forget that life consists of a multitude of decisions that we make every day. Look, every day you have to make hundreds of decisions, from: what time am I going to get up tomorrow. Since the night before, I sit in front of the clock and say, what time do I have to get up tomorrow? I'm going to get all the juice that I can, let me see. Instead of 6 it could be a quarter past 6, and I go like this, I have such a personal deal with the alarm clock, until we finally settle accounts and then I do everything possible to get up at the time that the clock tells me that I have to get up

So that's a lot of decisions, right? I get up earlier to pray, I speed up the car when I see the light that is already turning orange, which is almost red, or I slow down to stop when the light is red, I am already there and my car is well stopped in front of the stop or the red light, right? Things like, do I buy the dress that looks very sexy on me or do I buy the other one that fits me well and is not as tempting and is modest and represents more of who I am as a child of God? I mean, there are lots of them, in fact, once I went to... I know I've told this story, I went with a friend to some stores and there was a suit that fit me too well, too tight and I looked at myself. and I was like, 'wow, the suit looks good on me'; and I call her and I say 'come, how does it look on me?' And she says: 'Oh it looks great on you! It's so beatiful. Buy it and I said 'I reject that, I don't buy it at all.' No, and I didn't buy it because I realized that it could be, that suit could be that I was a stumbling block for someone, right? And I said, No, I can't do that.

So they are decisions like that, things sometimes as simple as I remember that many years ago when my oldest daughter was still little, I had sat down... I am the one who wears the pants to hold her I roll it takes me... they've already gone out of style by the time I take their request, in other words, because I buy them and I don't have time to get the wheel out of them. So, that day I was already very seated in my chair with the sewing box next to me, I had already marked them, I was already going to take the wheel, already very seated, and at the moment I hear a... like a fight between children next to the house, down the street next to the house. And I say, 'I have to do this', and I kept doing it and it continued like the discussion between the kids and it was something, the spirit spoke to me and said, 'Leave that, what is happening there with those kids? You have to go see, you are the authority here.' And when I went down there were some little kids in the neighborhood, who were new to the neighborhood and they were of a different color, from all the other kids, and so what I was seeing was a rejection of others who already knew each other with these two little boys who were new just from there.

So, I went, I treated them kindly, I invited them in, I gave them... I had ice cream in the freezer, I gave each of them a little ice cream, and the atmosphere changed immediately. Instead of being there, the discussion, the fight they had, they became friends and that was it... they always became friends. If I had not intervened, what would have happened? Those little kids may end up hurt, they think this neighborhood is hostile, nobody likes us here, and I don't teach them a lesson. And kids, you know when our kids fight, right? we had better intervene because sometimes they can hurt each other. It's not all the time right? when they are unimportant little things, well, one lets them learn to negotiate on their own, but one is there pending. So things like that, deciding, 'Look, I haven't been doing this for a long time but now I took the moment, but that is more important now.' One decides what things are important at each moment.

That's what wisdom is. The fact that my pants had cuffs or not, that doesn't have any kind of consequences, just that I couldn't put it on, that's all. But the other thing, the intervention that I did with the children, potentially has an impact on the future of these children's lives. So one has to live, always be aware of what God wants me to do at each moment, and that is what wisdom is, when we can observe things and determine, discern, what action I have to do here: Do I leave it or do I intervene? Do I or do I not? Do I make myself present or better am I absent? You have to make all those decisions.

And we saw that like every woman, Abigail in her time, also faced great difficulties, right? such as managing her husband, protecting herself from any negative influence on his part. Everything she learned helped her face her biggest crisis, right? What was the crisis that happened in history? Because wisdom is recognized by others. That servant of Nabal would not have gone to her.

Imagine that that servant, instead of going, acknowledging that she was a resource, going to where she had escaped, he could have kept quiet and saved his skin, right? He could have gone to another place, or fled to another field, to another place and disengaged. However, he knew, why did he do it? why did he go to abigail's? Because I knew that she was a resource. She knew that she, as a wise woman, would know and had the position and authority to do what had to be done. So that's why he immediately runs to ask her.

And he warned him about the mortality that was coming to the house, which Nabal did not discern, however he, even though he was a servant, discerned that something very, very serious was coming. The servant knows, he realizes his master's foolishness and goes to her, a woman of great understanding.

And look at the word that he says to her, in verse 17 of that Chapter he says: “... now, reflect, and see what you are going to do, Abigail, because the evil is already solved against our master and against all his household, for he, Nabal, is such a perverse man that there is no one who can speak to him..."

So he goes to her, and Abigail, who until then had been so busy preparing the banquet, imagine we were talking about this not being a small birthday party or anything like that, this was something of very large proportions and without the comforts that we have; no modern ovens, no microwaves, nothing like that. And yet... she was very busy, but at that moment, when the servant came to her, what did she have to do? He immediately had to establish a strategy: what am I going to do?

We're talking about it being a life or death situation. And she had to drop everything, discern that the danger was real, she dropped everything, and went to do what she had to do right away. Well, let's see, what does this man want? Meal. Come, assemble the food. And what do you need? That I speak to her to change her mind and that is why she then does that. In other words, he makes wise decisions, uses his skills, his resources wisely.

She may have thought, 'Oh, this is too big for me. I do not know what to do'. She could have gone to her husband, and made a serious mistake. Notice one of the things that she decides is not to go to Nabal to tell him about this, but rather to resolve it herself. She decides to solve it herself, because she knows that what he is going to do is make a wrong decision because he was a foolish man. So at that point she makes wise decisions to the point, I guess she watches, what are my options? Well, this is what I have to do, and she faces one thing, a very difficult situation, but she does it with the power of God and with determination, because she knows that she is a wise woman. All she has accumulated at this point is that she puts herself to the test.

Many times we have situations in our lives, right? that they are so difficult that it is there where it is put to the test if we are or are not, right? These situations often come into our lives, but if we have accumulated that wisdom, then we will be able to get ahead.

Abigail's fourth element, we already saw that she was a person of excellent reputation; of emotional balance; a wise woman; and the fourth thing is that she rose as a leader and faced the crisis. So he had all the elements, so he also stands up as a leader. And not only did he exercise leadership over his own household, commanding the servants, do this, do that, but he also exercised leadership over David's life, right? because his words totally changed the purpose that David had. So that's one of the things that she did as a leader: take responsibility, which is what a leader does, right? and wisely speak words to change the situation.

As a leader she faced David with the right attitude. I mean, she wasn't haughty to talk to a warrior. She went with humility because she knew that this man, at that moment, had the power to declare life or death over her house. There were 400 warriors with whom he came. But she knows, I have to speak humbly to this man because that way he will listen to me.

Sometimes we have to discern that too, how are they going to listen to us better? This way or another? She demonstrated as a leader, knowledge of who David was. There was no, like now, the Internet, newspapers, television, radio, there was none of that, however she was very aware of what was happening politically in her time, and she knew who David was.

And as leader she declared with great depth the truth about David's revenge plan. She confronted him and spoke very eloquent words to him. In verse 30 and 31 he says: ".... and it will come to pass, speaking to David, he says to him: "... and it will come to pass that when Jehovah does with my Lord according to all the good that he has spoken of you and establishes you for prince over Israel, then my Lord, you will have no cause for sorrow or remorse for having shed blood without cause, or for having avenged yourself. be careful then, my Lord, and when the Lord does good to my Lord, remember your servant....”

In other words, he tells her 'this is an impulsive decision that you are making, don't spill innocent blood.' In other words, she was already anticipating seeing David as king already established in Israel, and he was thinking about his deeds in the past and meditating that this should never have happened, that slaughter should never have happened because they were innocent people, based in the decision of a foolish man only.

So we see there in those few ways that Abigail assumed a leadership position that was needed at the time. And in fact, David tells her, thanking her, he says: "....blessed be Jehovah, God of Israel, who sent you to find me today and blessed be your reasoning and blessed you who have hindered me today from go to shed blood and avenge myself with my own hand...."

In other words, he himself acknowledges with his words that he respects Abigail, that he is grateful and basically tells her, you were an instrument in God's hands. You came promptly, diligently, you took action and you came to hinder what I had decided to do with my flesh, not as God's plan but with my flesh.

So what more of a leader could she be. It was a woman who took leadership. So we can learn many things about her, for example, recognize the moments, right? When are those key moments that we have to rise up as leaders and take action? We have to understand that leadership is not obtained overnight, right? It is like wisdom, it is not from one day to the next, it is one to take small steps, obedient to what God wants and then a leader rises up and when one comes to see, already a person who had no leadership, that is, He did not have an authority among others, he becomes a person of great authority and great leadership, respected by others.

And it is because he has been building leadership, not as a position but as a lifestyle. That was what Abigail used, and she used the gift of verbal communication. We have to learn to communicate, right? She knew what attitudes, what non-verbal language to use, and at the same time what words to use.

In Ecclesiastes 10:11 it says, "The mouth of the righteous is a spring of life...."

She spoke like a righteous woman. In other words, his mouth was a spring of life. In other words, a spring is a place where one goes to cool off. One thinks of a spring and feels the spring that runs over the stones, it is fresh, clean water. Well, that is what our mouth should be, a spring of life. And for David, Abigail's words were just that, a spring of life.

In Isaiah 50: 4 there is one of my favorite verses: “... The Lord, the Lord, gave me the tongue of the wise to know how to speak words to the weary. It will awaken morning after morning, it will awaken my ear to hear like the wise…”

So a woman who influences through leadership first hears from God, listens to God and then speaks. Because when we first hear from God, we discern the need that exists and then we can act according to that need.

You know, impulsive people, the ones who do things like that without thinking, almost always make mistakes, and sometimes serious mistakes. So that's not a lifestyle for the Christian, for the mature woman. First think, that every day God is going to awaken my ear so that I hear like the wise and therefore, then I am going to give words of wisdom.

And Abigail did something, which was that she studied... I think she knew herself very well, she knew what was happening around her, she knew the times, she was aware of the prophetic move where God, because he was able to speak prophetically to David. So that's another lesson that she teaches us. We have to be aware, keep the radar on all the time, not just take care of our own lives, our own problems. No, we have to go further, we have to be aware of other things because otherwise we will not be influential. If we're just going to stay in our little cubicle, not looking at what's going on around me, then we're not going to be influential.

So, to recap, Abigail was a very reputable woman, right? She was a woman with emotional balance, she was a wise woman, that is, she made wise decisions. And it was a person who rose as a leader. Her life, in fact, is like what she says in Psalm 90:12, which says, "so teach us to number our days, that we may bring wisdom to our hearts..."

She lived a wise life . Abraham Lincoln once said, in the end it is not the years of your life that count, but the life in your years. In the end, I am going to repeat it again, in the end the years of your life do not count, if you live 60, or 70, 80, but the life in your years.

I mean, she lived a life that allowed her to make an impact on others. And I believe that you will know if you are impacting the lives of others if others yearn to have what you have. Others look at you, approach you, and wish to have what you have, then you are already positively influencing others.

Are others imitating kingdom values because they see how you model them in your life and then repeat them? I have seen among you how many of you have risen as spirit mothers and I see spiritual daughters who sometimes even begin to dress like their spiritual mother. That's what's interesting, that sometimes they even dress the same and have certain ways of saying things and praying because that's what they saw modeled in their spiritual mom, therefore, they say, this is something good, this is something of value. . I want to imitate him. So they do that.

Also, they begin to make decisions that glorify God, that is, they begin to use wisdom in all their decisions despite the decisions, instead of acting impulsively. And they also become transformers. Not only are they transformed by the influence of another, but they also become transformers.

So, if you have all that in you, you are already an influencer of lives so keep doing it more and more and more, so that you can still influence many more, in those 4 things.

Again: reputation, emotional balance, wisdom and leadership. Those 4 things, if we grow in those 4 things, I assure you, one hundred percent assured, the Lord is with you and you will achieve great, great things. So don't stay where you are, don't stay in the comfortable place where you are, but keep growing more and more.