People of Hope Part 12: Jabez
Monday devotions @work 22 June 2020
1 Chronicles 4:9-10
9 Now Jabez was more honourable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”
During the past week it was Youth Day, and I came across the story of a young man that really seemed to have had a rough start in life. Yet he had an amazing attitude and was able to rise above his circumstances and have a meaningful life.
Imagine you were Jabez. We do not know much about him except that he is mentioned briefly in a long list of genealogy in 1 Chronicles 4. Amongst this long list of names there unexpectedly appears a paragraph giving us a brief description of him. Jabez is called ‘more honourable’ than his brothers, and that seems to be a good testimony of how his life turned out in the end. It is quite different from the start though, since we are told that his mother named him Jabez because she ‘bore him in pain’. Eisch! Imagine going through life with a name that reminds you of the fact that your mother birthed you in pain? As if it was your fault. I was wondering, what on earth was his mother thinking? Imagine the laughs at school when at the beginning of the year he is asked his name and he must spell it for the teacher. Imagine the Facebook comments and WhatsApp jokes. However, Jabez seems to have been a remarkable young man with a great faith and attitude, although we can deduce from his prayer that he did not take this issue lightly. The mere fact that he specifically prays about this already tells us that he was acutely aware of what his name meant and what it stood for. As we read further, we read about his response to this and his prayer to God.
10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!”
Imagine that attitude! Simply – I am not going to let this influence who I am. I am going to live in the opposite spirit, and I have a God who knows my heart and I am going to ask of Him the opposite of what was declared over me. I am asking Him to bless me – to enlarge my ‘territory’, which is symbolic of an area over which we have an influence. It’s like Jabez is saying, “I did not have a say in my circumstances or in the name that was chosen for me, but now I am asking that God will bless me and enlarge my area of influence so that I will not cause pain”. He is asking for a bigger area of influence in which he can come into the opposite spirit so that, as God blesses him, he would be able to become a blessing to others. He could have been the victim here and played the victim card saying, “Circumstances caused me to become someone who causes pain” or saying, “I will never amount to anything much because I just cause pain wherever I go” or, “If my mother thought I would cause pain then I guess that is all I can amount to”, but he does not do that. He actively decides to live in the opposite spirit. Apart from asking God’s blessing for himself, he also asked that God would keep him from evil. I believe this is a key point in his prayer, illustrating a heart that wanted to be good, do good, and be a blessing to others. It demonstrates a keen understanding of what I sow is what I will reap, and of knowing that if I live out of evil, neither I nor my neighbour will be blessed. And that was not the choice Jabez wanted to make. Choices and actions have consequences and he understood that. He petitions God to protect him from evil and that God’s hand would be on his life, so that he will not cause pain, and he asks for a bigger sphere of influence in which he can be a blessing to others, alleviating their pain and blessing them with whatever good things God blesses him with. Well, God answered his prayer:
God gave him a larger area of influence and I am sure he grabbed on to that opportunity with all his might, therefore the testimony of him states that he was more honourable than his brothers. His brothers possibly had a better start but seemingly did less.
May we learn this lesson from Jabez when we are young. That we do not have to be victims of our circumstances and that we can rise above every adversity. So yes, the youth of today have many challenges, but these do not have to be devastating - they need to be faced with an attitude of coming into the opposite spirit, of being kept from evil, and overcoming though prayer and faith in a God to whom nothing is impossible.
Monday devotions @work 22 June 2020
1 Chronicles 4:9-10
9 Now Jabez was more honourable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”
During the past week it was Youth Day, and I came across the story of a young man that really seemed to have had a rough start in life. Yet he had an amazing attitude and was able to rise above his circumstances and have a meaningful life.
Imagine you were Jabez. We do not know much about him except that he is mentioned briefly in a long list of genealogy in 1 Chronicles 4. Amongst this long list of names there unexpectedly appears a paragraph giving us a brief description of him. Jabez is called ‘more honourable’ than his brothers, and that seems to be a good testimony of how his life turned out in the end. It is quite different from the start though, since we are told that his mother named him Jabez because she ‘bore him in pain’. Eisch! Imagine going through life with a name that reminds you of the fact that your mother birthed you in pain? As if it was your fault. I was wondering, what on earth was his mother thinking? Imagine the laughs at school when at the beginning of the year he is asked his name and he must spell it for the teacher. Imagine the Facebook comments and WhatsApp jokes. However, Jabez seems to have been a remarkable young man with a great faith and attitude, although we can deduce from his prayer that he did not take this issue lightly. The mere fact that he specifically prays about this already tells us that he was acutely aware of what his name meant and what it stood for. As we read further, we read about his response to this and his prayer to God.
10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!”
Imagine that attitude! Simply – I am not going to let this influence who I am. I am going to live in the opposite spirit, and I have a God who knows my heart and I am going to ask of Him the opposite of what was declared over me. I am asking Him to bless me – to enlarge my ‘territory’, which is symbolic of an area over which we have an influence. It’s like Jabez is saying, “I did not have a say in my circumstances or in the name that was chosen for me, but now I am asking that God will bless me and enlarge my area of influence so that I will not cause pain”. He is asking for a bigger area of influence in which he can come into the opposite spirit so that, as God blesses him, he would be able to become a blessing to others. He could have been the victim here and played the victim card saying, “Circumstances caused me to become someone who causes pain” or saying, “I will never amount to anything much because I just cause pain wherever I go” or, “If my mother thought I would cause pain then I guess that is all I can amount to”, but he does not do that. He actively decides to live in the opposite spirit. Apart from asking God’s blessing for himself, he also asked that God would keep him from evil. I believe this is a key point in his prayer, illustrating a heart that wanted to be good, do good, and be a blessing to others. It demonstrates a keen understanding of what I sow is what I will reap, and of knowing that if I live out of evil, neither I nor my neighbour will be blessed. And that was not the choice Jabez wanted to make. Choices and actions have consequences and he understood that. He petitions God to protect him from evil and that God’s hand would be on his life, so that he will not cause pain, and he asks for a bigger sphere of influence in which he can be a blessing to others, alleviating their pain and blessing them with whatever good things God blesses him with. Well, God answered his prayer:
“… and God granted him his request…”
God gave him a larger area of influence and I am sure he grabbed on to that opportunity with all his might, therefore the testimony of him states that he was more honourable than his brothers. His brothers possibly had a better start but seemingly did less.
May we learn this lesson from Jabez when we are young. That we do not have to be victims of our circumstances and that we can rise above every adversity. So yes, the youth of today have many challenges, but these do not have to be devastating - they need to be faced with an attitude of coming into the opposite spirit, of being kept from evil, and overcoming though prayer and faith in a God to whom nothing is impossible.
Let us join Kristene Dimarco in a declaration in song as she sings: "I am no victim"
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