Bless Me Indeed!

Yesterday's post I began with a song.  Let's do that again today.

'Bless me Lord! Bless me Lord!'
You know, that's all I ever hear.
No one aches, no one hurts,
No one even sheds one tear.
But, He cries, He weeps, He bleeds
And He cares for your needs
And you just sit back and keep soakin' it in...

The ground-breaking Christian musician, Keith Green, wrote these words back in the 1970s.  The song, a powerful anthem to the Church, was titled, "Asleep in the Light".  Keith's point is that, when we communicate with God, our usual aim is to get His "blessing" on our lives.  "Oh Genie God, gimme this and this and, oh...especially THIS!"  Everyone wants that, right?  Even those who do not worship and follow Jesus Christ want that!  God's blessing.

Today, I was reminded of a Biblical character who also desired God's blessing, but not for selfish purposes as Keith described in his song.  Let me introduce you to him. His name was Jabez.  The only mention we have of him in scripture is from 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (NKJV).

⁹ Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez,^[a] saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” 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!” So God granted him what he requested.

So, we see here that Jabez asked for the Lord's blessing.  In fact, he asked for a heaping helping of blessing!  He asked that God would give him more "territory" (land) and that God's hand would be on him throughout his life. Finally, he asked that God would keep him from the pitfalls of evil so that he would not cause pain to others or bring it on himself.

About that last part: the Hebrew verb is translated as "do grieve" - - so that evil might not "do grieve" or "wreak havoc".  Some translations say "cause pain to me" and others say "cause pain to others".  I believe the actual language indicates both.

Regardless, God granted Jabez his request.

Now, it is clear that Jabez had a relationship with God.  If you have never talked to God or don't have a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ, this is the #1 blessing God is longing to give you. Before you can receive God's additional blessings, it is required that you come to know Jesus as Savior.  This momentous, life-changing decision was the topic of yesterday's post.  But, Jabez was already a follower of the one, true God.  The remainder of my post today, then, is to believers, Christ-followers.

Some would say that Jabez was praying selfishly.  A careful examination of the passage though indicates that he wanted to "be more and do more for God".  He wanted God's hand to be on him.  His desire was to serve the God of his fathers, the Israelites.  His desire was so great and the blessings God gave him so massive that Jabez became clearly distinguished from his many brothers. We see these 2 verses in the middle of a monotonous roll call (a chronicle, if you will) of many dusty, dead Hebrew people.

What application does Jabez's example have for Christians today?  We can learn from him the following:

1.  Your starting point is unimportant.  Look at the four remaining GOP presidential candidates (if you are reading this in "real time").  One was "born with a silver spoon in his mouth": born into great wealth.  The other three were not.  One had a father who was a postman.  The parents of the other two came to this country as immigrants. Yet, all four are running for the highest office in the land.  Who do you think put them in the running?  That's right!  God did.  He is the one who sets kings on their thrones (Daniel 2:21).  So, my point is that Jabez came from humble beginnings.  He was one of several brothers, probably not even the firstborn son.  His mother had such trouble birthing him that she gave him a somewhat derogatory name to commemorate the experience.  "Hello!  I'd like for you to meet my son, Pain!" Jabez was, in the world's eyes, a "nobody."
Names tend to define a person.  Having a name that meant "pain" did not paint a rosy future for Jabez.  Did he let his name limit his future walk with God?  No.

2.  God wants to be asked.  He has, of course, all earthly blessings in His hands, at his disposal.  He wants us to ask Him for them.  Jabez boldly asked and that he was deemed "honorable" because he did!  Jesus said in Luke 12:32 that "it is God's good pleasure to give you the kingdom". That does not mean He will give us anything we ask for.

3.  God wants our hearts to be turned toward Him, in line with His priorities, bonded to His mission for the salvation of mankind.  When we ask with a sincere heart that wants to expand His kingdom, to make a bigger impact for Him, He opens His hand.  Beyond asking God to "enlarge his territory", Jabez didn't get more specific.  By faith, he trusted God to direct and use him as He saw fit.

4.  We must be watchful for and desirous of avoiding the traps and trappings of evil, even as we ask God for His supernatural protection.

I got to experience this recently, actually this morning!  You may think that I'm going to mention the directions this blog has taken, as I referred to that a day or two ago.  But, no.  God has opened another door of opportunity for another avenue of ministry in which I'm privileged to serve.  It was such a miraculous occurrence that it has been obvious it's a work of God and a blessing from Him! How thrilling is that?!

God's blessing is not just for Christians who are "in ministry".  (All of us should be in some sort of ministry; but, that is a whole 'nuther blog post!)  When our hearts are Christ's, He wants to use our everyday endeavors, our jobs, our family life, our hobbies - - - all of it, to bring Him glory!
Christian, if your heart longs to do more for God, ask Him.  God longs to use you to make His name glorious, through all the Earth!

Father, we so often put hindrances on our lives...fear is a big one.  May we learn from Jabez's example and boldly lay our lives at Your feet, for Your glory.  Enlarge my territory today, Lord. Make Your name famous!  Please keep Your hand on me so that evil doesn't wreak havoc in my life to cause pain to me or to others.  In Jesus' name, amen.


Source:

Bruce Wilkinson wrote a short, little book about 16 years ago.   I highly recommend it!

Wilkinson, Bruce. The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking through to the Blessed Life. Sisters, Or.: Multnomah, 2000. Print.