When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.

In the Christian life difficulties are certainly to be expected, but the way we choose to handle our trials and tribulations becomes vitally important to walking victoriously and living a life that pleases God. One of our challenges as women is that we are “emotional” creatures and too often we allow our emotions to dictate our circumstances.

Out of control emotions often lead to devastating consequences. 

Christian author, Vickie Kraft in her series on, Facing Your Feelings, provides great insight:

• “So what is your gut reaction? Tell me how you really feel.”
• “It’s a perfect match—they’re madly in love, and she has nothing but good feelings about him.”
• “Let’s go for it! My sense is that we’re doing the right thing.”

These familiar sound bytes indicate that our modern world is deeply led by human emotions. In fact, more often than not, our feelings are our compass, intricately guiding our decision-making process. We call it “following our hearts instead of our heads.”

Of course, we know that emotions are a God-given part of our lives, allowing us to vividly
experience the world. But as Christian women, we have to ask ourselves if emotional
satisfaction should be our primary goal in life. The answer is clearly no.

The evidence around us suggests that modern emotions are creating subjective standards
that aren’t at all trustworthy. Broken marriages, abused children, and teenage
suicides result from out-of-control emotions. Wants that are falsely identified as needs, keep
family credit cards maxed out and finances in shambles. And “if it feels good, do it” was
a deadly motto for thousands of people now suffering from sexually transmitted diseases.

What are we to do now?

Abigail has much to teach us about how to handle similar difficulties, God’s way. She could have easily allowed her emotions to take over, but instead she used godly wisdom to overcome. She did not rely on how she felt, but on what she knew to be true about God. May we follow her example and study closely as she gains victory in the midst of her difficulty.