While
making another journey through the scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, I
once again came across that wonderful little jewel found hidden amongst the
rather tedious documentation of genealogies found in First Chronicles chapter
4.
Maybe God
knows and understands that our attention span seems to shrink with the less
than exciting portions of scripture. So,
He inserts this wonderful little account that is filled with wisdom and
encouragement and stimulates the sluggish brain.
Starting
with verse 9 of chapter 4, here is the story:
Now
Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name
Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”
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.
The name Jabez means grieve or
sorrowful. We are not told if the pain
this mother carried was physical from the actual birth process or if it was
mental anguish for some reason. Whatever
the reason, she burdened the innocent child with a name that was a daily
reminder that somehow he brought pain to his mother.
I was most
taken by the last part of his prayer. “that You would keep me from evil, that I
may not cause pain.”
With a name
like that, poor Jabez may have felt like he was the cause of every pain in the entire
world. Somehow, he was to blame.
He did have
one thing right. There is a connection
between evilness and pain. God calls for
us to be holy as He is holy. God’s laws
and directives point us toward light and life and peace and joy. Our enemy, (the enemy of our soul) directs us
toward evil which always brings pain. Then he somehow convinces us that if we
inflict pain on someone else it will relieve our own pain.
Jabez may
have hated his name and what it meant.
He did not want to be a source of pain to his mother or anyone
else. He knew the wise solution.
As I read
this account, I got curious about who were these brothers that Jabez was more
honorable than. I scanned back through
the passages just prior and those after his prayer. Not a single word about who begat Jabez, or who
Jabez begat. I am still curious and intrigued. This I do know. God inserted a jewel of wisdom in an
interesting place.
A Christian
counselor I know often says, “hurting people hurt people. Maybe Jabez was praying for God’s strength to
help him heal from his hurts instead of lashing out and hurting others. Maybe he realized he needed more than just
his own strength. So do we and so do our
children.
Just this
week we learned of another young man who lashed out by killing school mates in
Texas. Maybe it would help if we taught
our children to call on God to help and heal when they hurt, if we taught them to
call on God to help when they need strength to hold back from lashing out their
pain on others. Maybe it would help if we taught them to pray like Jabez…. “that Your hand would be with me, and that
You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!”
A closing
thought, God granted him what he requested.
