Desiring Better | The Worshipper's Thought of the Day

This past Sunday, my pastor expounded on Jabez as part of his message.  I was truly blessed by the insight he shared on this Bible personality who, although only spoken of in just two consecutive verses, teaches us a very impactful lesson.  So it's my prayer that what follows will be an encouragement to someone who may be going through a tough spot right now.

Let's take a look at the latter portion of 1 Chronicles 4:9, which says that the mother of Jabez so named him because she "bare him with sorrow."  The name Jabez means "to grieve; sorrowful," and that word "sorrow" in the verse means "pain."  Therefore, we can agree that this guy came into the world under less than desirable circumstances, and his identity became associated with those circumstances.  His name was a constant reminder of pain, and he lived carrying the burden of that name daily.  How many people are identified with the undesirable and are seemingly never able to come from underneath the burden of the name they've been given?

At some point in his life, however, Jabez made a conscious decision to desire better for himself than that which had been placed upon him.  (Hello, somebody!!!)  As my pastor so well put it, "The walk of faith comes with no Kleenex."  Getting upset, crying and going into a state of depression are not profitable tactics when operating by faith. And neither is complaining.  Jabez chose to no longer allow his circumstances to cause him to SAY what he COULD NOT do.  How many times have we allowed the hand that life has dealt us to dominate our conversation?  Instead of following in our Father's footsteps of calling those things which be not as though they were (according to Romans 4:17), we continue to talk up all that's going wrong in our lives.  We must learn how to control our verbiage so our mouths are not the source of our ruin.  Our mistake is often in telling our problems to people who mean well but usually are unable to actually do anything about them.  And each time we recount the details, we get further stressed and become upset all over again.  Jabez apparently grew tired of being associated with the name given him, so what did he do?  He called out to GOD...now that's enough right there to send me over the edge in praise.

When faced with the undesirable, I encourage you to call out to the One who can actually do something about your situation.  Our Father is mighty to save and is strong to deliver (Isaiah 63:1, Psalm 18:2).  Therefore, even after we've told Him what's wrong, the question still remains, "So what do YOU want to happen?"  Being excellent at detailing the problem profits nothing.  Furthermore, we must get in the habit of petitioning GOD for the results we desire when the odds seem stacked against us, just as Jabez did in 1 Chronicles 4:10.  And if we go back to the beginning of 1 Chronicles 4:9, we see that Jabez was more honorable than his siblings.  Because he chose not to accept what had been placed upon him and called out to GOD to remove him from what he had been identified with, GOD so increased  Jabez more than his other family members--the very people who placed the undesirable identity upon him.