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. –1 Chronicles 4:9 & 10, emphasis mine
Jabez means, “borne in pain”. His mother named him that way because, well, let’s say it wasn’t an easy parto. And another thing that’s interesting: you can’t find of Jabez anywhere else in the Bible. Nope, no other reference in the Testaments, Old or New. The only things we know is that he’s from the tribe of Judah, and that he wanted to be blessed-the rightway.
- Blessings have to be either asked or fought. Either way or the other, God is the One who gives and grants blessings. If it’s spiritual, material, or any other way, God is the Only One authorized to send favor.
- Blessings enlarge our territory. They renew the sense that God is expanding, expounding, reaching over the land and devolving His grace upon us.
- Blessings let us understand how amazing is the presence of God. His glory, His touch, His power is unique in every way. If Moses was daring enough to tell God that he wouldn’t leave until His presence was with them, how much more would Jabes ask God to never pass Him by?
- Blessings will never break us. If not, then what’s the point of asking for a blessing if God knows that it won’t be beneficial to us? That’s like God wanting us to go to Heaven with a beat-up car rather than a luxury car that will send us to Hell –not that I chastise having luxuries (I remember this analogy from somewhere over the Internet), but what is beyond God’s will?
Bring it on, bring it on, favor!