TURNING OUR LIABILITIES INTO ASSETS
download here…….Turning Your Liabilities to Assets Mothers Day Edition
MOTHER’S DAY SPECIAL EDITION
SUNDAY 12TH MAY, 2019
Introduction:
Depression is the constant feeling of being numb and unexcited about the usual activities that would normally have excited you. Depression usually begins with a sudden downcast of spirit often triggered by disappointment, discouragement or no traceable reason. When disappointment festers for long in the soul it can lead to a depressing state; it is like a bruise that never goes away except with the help of God and a deliberate effort to turn your liabilities and unfortunate situations into assets.
We will be looking at 3 mothers in the scriptures and contemporary times who converted their liabilities into assets with the help of God. We would be looking at who these women really were, what their liability was, how they converted them to assets, the lessons to learn from each of them and the common denominator for these women.
1. HELEN KELLER
2. HANNAH
3. ABIGAEL
HELEN KELLER: (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968)
She was an American author, political activist and lecturer. She was the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. At 19 months old Keller contracted an unknown illness described by doctors as “an acute congestion of the stomach and the brain”, which might have been scarlet fever or meningitis. The illness left her both deaf and blind. Despite disabilities she went ahead to become a prolific author, who was well-traveled and outspoken in her convictions. She was a member of the Socialist Party of America and the Industrial Workers of the World, she campaigned for women’s suffrage, labor rights, socialism, antimilitarism, and other similar causes. She was inducted into the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame in 1971 and was one of twelve inaugural inductees to the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame on June 8, 2015.
Her birthplace in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, is now a museum and sponsors an annual “Helen Keller Day”. Her June 27 birthday is commemorated as Helen Keller Day in Pennsylvania and, in the centenary year of her birth, was recognized by a presidential proclamation from Jimmy Carter.
1. HANNAH
a) Who was Hannah?
1. Hannah was the first wife of Elkanah
2. She had no children
1 Sam 1:1-2
1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
b) What were her liability?
1. Her barrenness, the Lord had closed her womb.
2. Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her and make her miserable.
c) How did it become an asset?
-
- When God heard her cries and opened her womb
- God even gave her 5 more children and caused her to be a joyful mother of children.
d) Lessons to learn from her life:
God is the giver of all good gifts, not any man
1. Never to trust in the arms of flesh, she cried vehemently to her husband.
1 Sam 1: 8 NLT
“Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me—isn’t that better than having ten sons?”
2. No man can take the place of God in your life, Jehovah has the final say as displayed in the hearty song by Hannah.
3. Time is an umpire of destiny, let God have his way in his own time
1 Sam 1:7
So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the lord, that she provoked her; therefore, she wept and did not eat.
1 Sam 1: 19-20
19 Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her.
20 So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the Lord.”
2. ABIGAEL
1 Sam 25:2-3
2 Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel, and the man was VERY RICH. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
3 The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance; but the man was harsh and evil in his doings. He was of the house of Caleb.
a) Who was Abigael?
1. Abigael was a very beautiful woman with a graceful appearance adorned with humility. She is the wife of Nabal, a wealthy businessman who had 3000 sheep and 1000 goats worthy to be described as very rich according to the measurement of wealth in his time.
Content of their family business:
- They were into milk and cheese producing industry with their goats.
- Meat processing via his goats and sheep
- Textiles, by shearing his sheep.
2. Her name means “My father is joy”
3. She was a woman of good understanding and beautiful to behold.
b) What were her liabilities?
1. Nabal, a fool of a husband; who was harsh and evil in his doings. Maybe unwise is a better word.
c) How did it become an asset?
1. She respected her husband and demonstrated wisdom to counter her husband’s foolishness. She did not do a direct confrontation or challenge his authority without wisdom when the servant reported the situation to her but instead, she stood in the gap and interceded for his life and the safety of her entire household.
2. When Nabal refuses to accommodate David’s request for food, it was Abigael who unknown to her husband hastily amasses the food and delivers it to David. David heard her supplications and speech; a masterful example of tact and diplomacy was displayed in vs 24-31.
3. Thus, she succeeded in averting David’s wrath at Nabal when David had already made up his mind to wipe out all Nabal’s industry and members of his household.
4. Thereafter, when Nabal heard what had happened from his wife’s mouth in the morning after the hangover has waned from him, he developed heart attack (his heart froze) and became paralyzed or have stroke.
5. What or who killed Nabal? God killed Nabal, ten days later.
6. It opened the way for David to propose to Abigael – 39
So, when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “blessed be the lord, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept his servant from evil. For the lord has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.
d) Lessons to learn from Abigael’s life
1. The Battle for destiny cannot be fought in the flesh
Despite and in spite of all the foolishness and misbehavior of her husband, his harshness and pride obviously because of his wealth, Abigael never nagged him. She understands that the battle for destiny cannot be fought ordinarily with human knowledge in the flesh, she only took the positive steps to avert the looming disaster.
1 Sam 25:36-38
36 Now Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was, holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; therefore, she told him nothing, little or much, until morning light. Vs 19 earlier
37 so it was, in the morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone.
38 Then it happened, after about ten days, that the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.
Pro 21:9 AMP It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop [on the flat oriental roof, exposed to all kinds of weather] than in a house shared with a nagging, quarrelsome, and faultfinding woman.
As a married woman, stop nagging and quarrelling with your husband. If you are looking for a fault in him, you will find ten. Your quarrelsome and contentious nature can chase him out of the house into the hands of strange women. Stop fighting the battle of destiny in the flesh.
2. Do the needful first instead of apportioning blames:
Instead of endless complaints and faultfinding, she went behind to do what she needed to do, the right thing expected of her and not complaint that will complicate issues. Not all situations are to be approached headlong with violence. Abigael understands scriptures:
Pro 14:1
A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.
3. Abigael, was a great intercessor, go-between, standing in the gap to make up for and cover her husband’s laxities, lousiness and foolishness. Stop comparing your husband to other men, the reason you are in his life is to make up his shortcomings. You have no business being in the life of a man if all you will do is endless complaints without striving for a solution.
4. Abigael, was also a very shrewd and patient woman: It must have been a difficult and nearly impossible task to wait for Nabal to awake from his hangover. While waiting, she cleaned up his mess and dressed him before lodging her complaints. Patience was a virtue she possessed.
If you are in an unfortunate marriage, or perhaps you feel you have made a mistake by saying yes, to that man; attentively consider the lessons highlighted above that Abigael teaches and represents and take heed to the following conclusions.
You should never allow your marital circumstances to wreck you, but to sanctify you for worthy service and communion with God.
CONCLUSION:
1. You are fighting a battle of destiny, it cannot be fought in the flesh – 2 Cor 10:3 for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. This should be your mantra as a believer.
2. In marriage, never let the evil disposition of one mate hinder the devotion and grace of the other.
Refuse to be negatively influenced, stand for what is right without being contentious and always remember that two wrongs do not make a right.
3. Never let the difficulties of your home lead you to abdicate your throne.
Quitting is not an option. Don’t cave in to the psychological warfare of the Sanballats, Tobiahs and the Gershoms who want you to abandon your destiny.
4. Do not step down to the level of your circumstances but lift them to your own high calling in Christ.
‘Be not conformed . . . But be ye transformed’ (Rom. 12:1,2 KJV).”
Prov 26:4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him.