GS Newsletter - April 18th, 2023
“And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bore him with sorrow. And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.” - I Chronicles 4:9-10
THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING the birth of Jabez were anything but stellar. When one looks at his life, his very name means “he makes me to sorrow,” which means that his mother could not properly care for him, or else, she did not want him. Either way, just by the very meaning of his name, those circumstances would follow him for the rest of his existence. This could have destroyed Jabez, but thankfully, he refused to let life’s events dictate his outcome, but he would allow these events to turn him toward the Lord, for it was only the Lord who could change that curse and turn it into a blessing. Many times, the uncertainty of life will bring about situations that would cause us to run away from the Lord, but if we apply that which we read in the life of Jabez and allow the events of our lives to bring us closer to the Lord, then He can turn those negatives into a positive. I like to say it like this: only God can take our wrong, put it into His right, and make everything alright.
AND JABEZ CALLED ON THE GOD OF ISRAEL
The Bible declares that “Jabez was more honorable than his brethren.” The reason the Holy Spirit made this statement is that Jabez did what we all should do in the time of adversity — he called on the God of Israel. That word called simply means “to proclaim or praise the excellency of Yahweh, to worship Yahweh, or to summon Yahweh by name for help.” When faced with adverse circumstances, much of the world calls on a bottle or looks for a pill to suspend reality. However, as a believer, we have the privilege of calling on the God of Israel, for when we call on God, we are guaranteed to never get a busy signal, and He will never turn a blind eye to our request. In fact, God is waiting for us to call upon Him in the time of distress, for He will not only give us an answer, but He is the answer, and He is the only One who can turn our curse into a blessing. To call upon the Lord also means to put our complete trust in Him and to put our problems into the hands of the Lord.
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