GPS

For the last week or so, I have struggled with writing. Everyday I come in, grab my coffee and sit down. Some days I can write a few lines, even finding some scripture to accompany it. While other days I stare at the blank screen without a clue as to how to begin. I even have four drafts of great story starters. But that is just it, they are starters. Trust me, they are great stories, but clearly they aren't to be told yet. That's just it. When I have all these stories and not one is clearly told, what is God wanting me to say? So its back to the "bible reference library" we go. How do I even know what to look for? You know what, this is actually exciting, to see where God takes me.

When you do a Google search for "bible characters not knowing what to do" you get back some interesting information, mostly about "character". However, in what I've come to rely on, was an article just for me: 10 Obscure (Yet Interesting) Bible Characters and Their Stories.

People such as Josiah and Mordecai are referenced, but I knew as soon as I saw, that Jabez was the one intended for me.

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, "I gave birth to him in pain". Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain". And God granted his request. -I Chron 4:9-10

That's it. Two verses. The prayer of Jabez (verse 10) is perhaps what we are most familiar with with. We may have heard it growing up in church, or at church camp; if not there then we have seen it written on upteen bazillion items in Christian bookstores since the release of Bruce Wilkerson's best selling book "The Prayer of Jabez" (2000). Yes, an entire book written on one verse, about someone, who's story takes up two verses in the bible. Two verses out of a total of 23,145 verses in the Old Testament and 31,102 verses in the entire Bible. 2 of 31,102. But we have to look deeper than just those verses.

In looking at Jabez we have to consider where we learn about him. Ezra, the author of I Chronicles, listed him in the succession of the Kings of Judah, in the tribes of Isreal. Ezra had just spent three chapters listing men in the succession, with most listed by names. At best some were identified by their mother, and one, Judah's firstborn (2:3) was described as "wicked in the Lord's eyes". That was it. The most description really that any one person received. But Jabez received two verses. So there has to be something special about him.

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez saying,"I gave birth to him in pain" (v.9)

Now I'm not going to lie here. My first reaction to reading this was, "Of course you gave birth in pain! We have the benefit of modern medicine. What did you have?" Then after chastising myself, really did, I thought "why would that woman name her child something that would forever remind him that he was the one who caused her so much pain?" I mean it. We didn't name our first-born Episiotomy or Perineotomy, did you? Okay, well if you did, Tommy and Perry are excellent nicknames, I'm sure. But back to Jabez's mom. She gave him this name ON PURPOSE. What was she thinking?

Most of the commentaries that I found all agree that Jabez was no only born into pain, but in biblical times they believed a name defined their future. We don't know anything about his life, but we do know that he found solice in prayer. He knew that in all things and for all things, prayer was the answer. These commentaries also point out that not only does Jabez get more than a mere mention in the genealogy, but that it specifically says he was an honorable man. Every mother's dream for her son.

Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request. (v.10)

This is the prayer of a man who believes in the power of prayer and prays to God with conviction. He specifically prays for God to bless him, help him in his work, be with him in all things and protect him. This prayer acknowledges that God is the center of our life. Think of God as your GPS (God's Prayer Service). As long as you are using His service, you will ever get lost,since He will always be guiding you. But, just lie a car;s GPS, if you lose signal, you can get turned around real quick and get lost. Put Him first. Let Him lead you and obey Him in your daily life.