In 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 NIV, we read of a man named Jabez:
9Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” 10Jabez 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.
Imagine being given a name that screams ‘pain’—“You are a pain… you are a dishonor.” Painful indeed. When Jesus said, “You shall be hated by all men for my name’s sake. But he that shall endure unto the end, he shall be saved. (Mark 13:13),” we would not expect women also to hate us—not our dearest kith and kin to disassemble us by imposing an identity that is far from our destiny. God made us in His image and likeness and no one except the devil would try so hard to sabotage our self-image. Jabez was intuitive and knew God well enough to know that his name needed a makeover. But it would have to start with him.
And what did he do to have a pain-free life? He understood that he needed God to bless him and keep him from evil; enlarge his territory and be with him in everything.
Jabez knew that apart from God he could not reverse his destiny. His destiny was inextricably tied to his name and it meant that he would cause pain and would have to endure pain all his life. Why would anyone wish to have to endure a lot of pain? He was intuitive enough to understand that his calling had to be reversed if he was to experience joy.
Jabez prayed with his whole heart that God would keep him from pain and God answered his prayer. If we look deeply into his prayer, we see that he asked God for the greatest desire of his heart — that God would bless him because if he was blessed he would not have to endure pain.
His second prayer is that God would enlarge his dominion and influence and power. God granted his second request as well. God gave him everything that he desired so that his life overflowed with blessing. It was God’s heart to bless him and to help him be successful in everything he did. He was able to accomplish the desires of God’s heart. This helped him have even more influence than his brothers so that he was deemed more honorable than them.
His third prayer was that God would always be with him. And God answered that prayer as well. God was ever-present in his life, meaning that he would always look to God for all that he needed, and God would lavish him with peace, joy, hope, love, strength, compassion, goodness and favor to name a few.
God was always by his side meant that Jabez was able to seek the Lord’s help when he needed expert guidance and understanding into the difficulties that lay before him. Like a good mentor and teacher, God oversaw his success and made sure that everything went well with his soul. Jabez on his part was regularly in touch with his mentor and teacher so that if there had to be any course corrections, it would be done instantly with the least amount of pain.
His final prayer was that God would keep him from evil because evil has enough power to render all the first three prayers ineffective. This last prayer is the most powerful one that ensured that Jabez was very successful in keeping pain out of his life, for God blessed him for his sincere obedience and keen attention to do as God said.
Pain and sin are interlinked—the first incidence of pain is found in the garden of Eden when Adam was filled with the pain of fear on hearing God’s question and said, “…I was afraid.” (Gen 2:10) God’s presence was taken away from Cain when he murdered his brother Abel. Separation from God and His providence causes pain. Jesus took all the pain and endured our guilt and shame on the cross—He was indeed in deep pain when he cried in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”(Matthew 27:46) If we were to fully embrace all the blessings offered us on the cross, we can be assured our lives will be truly painless.
The Bible says that God granted Jabez’s request (singular) and not requests (plural) because in all his prayers, Jabez was praying the same thing—that God would bless him all the days of his life. And this prayer was instantly answered by God.
Jabez was indeed wise to ask for all the things that were close to God’s heart. He praised God and stayed close to God in prayer; felt His pulse every second and was always in tune with his God above so that God could not but bless him and keep him safe and strong and free from pain. Amen.