Bible Wives Who Had to "Put-Up"

I can't believe that it was over six years ago that I wrote in my journal about Bible wives who had to "put-up". I had been thinking about being a christian wife and about the fact that so many christian wives do not "put-up". Instead, they leave. I couldn't help but wonder that if they had put-up and kept up an attitude of gratitude if God wouldn't have blessed them. I do admit though, that I have been tremendously blessed to be married to the greatest man in the whole world. But there have been times when I wasn't so grateful for him and did not have a godly attitude about it. Of course there were times when he drove me crazy, but there have been even more times when I am sure that I drove him crazy. However, we decided years ago that we would dedicate our lives to one another and to the LORD. It was a very stressful time in our lives back then and my depression was almost beyond belief. We took our daughter, Rebekah, who was terrified by what was happening to her mom and dad, and with her we made commitments to each other that we would never leave. That we would stay a family until God took us home to Heaven.
So, I thought that I would share this journal entry from February of 2004 (and add some additional comments):
"Sarah= she had to put-up with Hagar and the other concubines that her husband had. She messed up by giving her hand-maid, Hagar, to her husband, but later she admits her sin to Abraham. God then blessed her with the promised son, Isaac, who would become one of the fathers of the nation of Israel.
Hanna = she had to put-up with Penuel (her husband's second wife) who was able to have children by their husband. Penuel and her children were rude to Rachel and would make fun of for not having any children. Hannah maintained an attitude of submission and trust in the LORD. She made a promise to God and she kept it when God blessed her with a son. That son was Samuel, one of the greatest men in the Bible.
Rachel = she had to put-up with her dad's deception and with her older sister. Both of them tricked Rachel's intended on the day that should have been her marriage. So, instead of Rachel being wedded to Jacob, Leah was married first. Rachel had to wait her turn and from then on we see her in constant competition with her sister to see who would win the favor of their husband. I never do see Rachel change her attitude and I think because of that, we don't see the promised Messiah coming through her lineage, instead we see that Jesus comes from the tribe of Judah, one of Leah's many sons.
Michael = who loved David, was the first wife to marry him. She had to put-up with him abandoning her when David had to flee from her father, King Saul. However, I believe that she would have gone with David and would have been well protected. But she had to put-up with being left behind for many years. She had to put-up with being married to another man. She had to put-up with not being able to bear any children of her own. She had to put-up with David returning to Israel with a few more wives and their children. She had to put-up with being taken from her new husband to live with David and his other wives. Then she had to put-up with his behavior that she found offensive. Her attitude became very bitter towards her husband and because of it she became cursed and basically had to put-up with living the rest of her life as a "widow". And I think the worst of all, she had to put-up with the death of all the children she had raised for her sister who had died years earlier.
Abigail = she had to put-up with being married to the foolish Nabal and then becoming one of David's many wives. She had a humble attitude and because of it, her life was spared and she was able to have a son with her new husband, David.
Esther = first she had to put-up with the death of her parents when Assyria came to and basically destroyed Jerusalem. She not only lost her parents, but she lost her home. She later had to put-up with being entered into a "beauty contest" that would chose the next queen for the king of the country that had invaded Jerusalem in the first place. She always had a submissive and trusting attitude towards her older cousin who had raised her after the death of her parents. Because of that, God blessed her and allowed her to "win the beauty contest". History tells us that he wasn't the best dude in the world, so she had to put-up with being married to "the enemy" and to only see him when he requested her presence. God blessed her and used her to save her people (Jews) from another plot to have them destroyed."
I'm sure that we can think of other wives in the Bible who had to "put-up" with less than desirable situations. Most of them did it with godly attitudes and were then blessed because of it. I think that we christian wives could take encouragement from these women.