FAITH CAPSULE: What area of your life needs to be changed for you to enter into what the Lord has called you to be?

1 Chronicles 4:1-12

It is written, in I Chronicles 4:9, “Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” How else can the Bible describe a man better than being referred to as honorable? Throughout the Bible very few individuals were singled out with great identification like that of Jabez. Job was referred to as, “…blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.” (Job 1:1) Also, Samuel noted David in 1 Samuel 13:14, “…The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart…” King David was a man after God’s heart. It is written concerning Abraham, “…Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.”  (James 2:23) Abraham became a friend of God because of his obedience which stands out throughout the pages of the scripture. Many must have had a great identity but failed to live life to their potential as regard to their identity. For example, Jabez had every reason to make it in life but then there was a need for a change somewhere in his life.
Jabez was an honorable man living a dishonorable life; not living up to his potential and what the Lord had called him to be. Jabez discovered his challenge when he recognized the meaning of his name as where change must have come from. The Bible recorded, “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. ” (1 Chronicles 4:10) God is the only Unchanging changer. Jabez (meaning sorrow) called on God and specifically requested for what could be his blessings as one that is identified honorable by the word of God. Jabez prayed a specific and direct prayer. Jabez wanted to be blessed, he did not pray “bless me Lord” but he specified the kind of blessing that he wanted. An honorable man deserves a large territory and he asked for the blessing of a large territory. Above that, he prayed for the hand of God to be with him just in case the evil one went after him. He called on God to have himself changed from being a vessel of pain to a vessel of gain. What area of your life needs to be changed for you to enter into what the Lord has called you to be? All it took for change to have its way in the life of Jabez was the ability to ask, and he did not ask a miss. Is it your name that needs to be changed for changes to be able to locate you? It is never too late and when the wind of change blows from the Lord nothing can stand against you.

Prayer for today: Ask God to open your eyes to whatever situation that is representing a trap in your life so you do not miss your blessing of change.