Introduction:  One woman said to her friend “Isn’t your wedding ring on the wrong finger?”  Her friend replied “Why, yes it is.  I married the wrong man!” 

I’m in a sermon series entitled “Imperfect Love” because that’s what most of us experience in this life.  We’ve talked about divorce.  We’ve talked about overcoming a bad beginning in marriage.  Today I want to talk about what happens when we think we might have married the wrong person. 

We might feel that way because we married someone who doesn’t share our faith and that difference is causing friction in the marriage – that’s a pretty common problem.  We might have the same faith but differing levels of commitment. Or it might be that we’re just incompatible with the person we married and we can’t take it anymore!

One person said that when dating they always look at prospective marriage partners and ask “Is this the person I want to annoy for the rest of my life?” 

ILLUSTRATION:  For some reason my wife has taken a liking to the TV show “Snapped.”  Each episode focuses on an average woman who suddenly “snaps” and kills her husband.  The other night it was about a preacher’s wife who “did in” the preacher and got five years in prison.  I looked over at Tami and she had a tear in her eye.  I said “I know why you’re troubled, honey, and I agree.  Five years for killing her preacher-husband just isn’t right.”   “It’s not that,” she said “I was just thinking that if I’d “snapped” back in 2003 I’d be OUT by now!” 

Well, we don’t want things to go that far, do we?  No!  What can we do when we find ourselves in a situation where we feel unequally yoked?  When there seems to be significant incompatibility?  Are there ways to “equalize” the “unequally yoked”?

I think that there are.  We’re going to take our cues this morning from one of the most incompatible marriages in the entire Bible and that’s the marriage of Abigail and Nabal recorded in I Samuel 25.  The story begins by introducing us to the incompatibility of these two people.

Did you ever see a couple and wonder “How did HE ever wind up with HER?”  I feel that way sometimes.  Somebody was looking at a picture of me and Tami the other day and commented on how pretty my DAUGHTER looked.  That’s not my DAUGHTER that’s my WIFE!  Anyway, that’s what you have to wonder about Abby and Nabal.  How did two so obviously mismatched people wind up married?  Probably their marriage was arranged by their parents when they were children.   Sometimes this works; other times, such as with Nabal and Abigail, it was disastrous.  But this remarkable woman determined to stay in the marriage, retain her dignity, AND make a difference.  She models four strategies for equalizing an unequal yoke.  In other words, if you’re the one who would like to change the dynamic in your relationship…here’s a strategy.