God of Breakthrough Series Part 4-Jabez

This man, Jabez, must have lived a life of greatness, because historians tell us that a city was named after him, people followed him, and he was a true man of God who turned his pain into prayer.

The writer God used to pen the Chronicles was Ezra, and Ezra seems to assume that his immediate readers knew who Jabez was because he offers zero background information on him.

His mother named him Jabez and we find out that his name in the Hebrew language means, “one who causes sorrow,” because she said, “I bore him in sorrow and pain.”

So from birth, Jabez was placed in a negative context.

His entry into the world was cast in a bad light.

Think about it: His name meant pain.

And not just pain, but “he who causes pain.”

FACT: In the O.T. days, a name mattered greatly.

Parents were very careful to place upon their children names that signified something about their destiny and character.

So we have “Isaac” meaning “laughter.”

Or “Jesus” meaning “Savior.”

Or “Abraham” meaning “father of a multitude—all names that were predictive of that person’s purpose, destiny, and character.

So to be named “Sorrow causer” was a great negative.

It placed Jabez in a negative light.

The name “Jabez” stigmatized him.

It had a defining character to it.

It did not portend a positive future or good character.

For me, the great message of these two short verses tucked away in 1 Chr. 4 is that Jabez rose up and refused to be defined by the world represented in his mother.

He decided that, though his name meant pain, he would believe God to do just the opposite with his life.

So…Jabez prayed that the meaning of his name would be reversed.

Jabez prayed that the grief implied by his name would not come upon him!

His prayer was comprised of 4 parts, and the last thing he asked for was, “…that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!”

Now, all four things Jabez prayed for were:

1. That God would bless him indeed. (genuine blessedness)

2. That He would enlarge his territory. (prosperity)

3. That God's hand might be with him. (power)

4. And that he would not be a “Jabez”—a man of sorrow. (protection)

Blessing, prosperity, power, and protection.

We are told that “God granted his request.”

Now, I want to talk today about experiencing a breakthrough in the presence of negativity.

First, we must realize that:

Someone has and is currently defining who you are and what you will become.

For instance,

THE CULTURE surrounding us is seeking to define you.

Our current culture is highly toxic.

I feel like wearing a SPIRITUAL HAZMAT SUIT each and every day.

Our society is radioactive with toxic philosophies, toxic immorality, and toxic godlessness.

It is filled with anti-Christian, anti-God, and anti-Biblical messages TO you ABOUT you.

It seeks to define your MANHOOD if you’re a man. Your WOMANHOOD if you’re a woman.

It wants to mold you into its own image.

It wants you to see yourself, the world, God, morality, and people a certain way.

Its goal is that you will think and behave according to its ideals and beliefs.

Paul warned of this when he said, “Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.”—Ro.12:2

AMP: “Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude],”

A second source seeking to define us is FAILURE:

Failure can send a lethal message if you let it.

“You’re no good. You’re not born to succeed. You’re a loser. You might as well give up and quit. You have no talent. You were passed by when the gifts were handed out.”

But failure doesn’t mean any such thing!

Failure is never fatal or final unless you quit!

If you allow failure to define YOU as a failure, you are essentially saying to God, “You created a mistake.”

As the old preacher said, “God don’t make no junk.”

Another great definer of how we view ourselves is…

IMPORTANT PEOPLE in our lives.

Parents, teachers, counselors, advisers, friends…all these people in close proximity to us intentionally or unintentionally help define us.

Jabez’s own mother sought to define him.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with these kinds of people seeking to define us, as long as it is in line with God’s view of us.

But it can be and often is otherwise.

Sometimes the well-meaning or not so well-meaning words and attitudes of others play a huge role in how we view ourselves.

For instance, you may have been told you have no talent, or you aren't cut out for "this business" or you are never going to "make it in this line of work."

Or, when you were a child someone called you “dumb,” or “worthless,” or “unpromising,” or “bad.”

And their definition of you created a belief about yourself that didn’t come from God and flat out wasn’t true.

Did you know that Beethoven was told by a music teacher that "as a composer he was hopeless."

Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper because he "lacked imagination and had no original ideas."

Thomas Edison was told by a teacher he was "too stupid to learn anything."

Albert Einstein wasn't able to speak until he was almost 4 years old and his teachers said he would "never amount to much."

Michael Jordan was cut from the high school basketball team, went home, locked himself in his room and cried.

These are just a few of the people who refused to listen to the critical, potentially defining words of the "experts."

And like them, Jabez refused to accept the gloomy future his name implied!

He went to God and boldly prayed for the complete reversal of his name and God granted his request!

Jabez believed something that everyone here must know:

II. In order to do what God has called you to do you must see yourself the way God sees you.

This is why the Bible reveals that the Lord often changed somebody’s name to give them the identity that fell in line with His purpose for them!

God changed Abram’s name (high father) to Abraham—Father of nations.

He changed his wife’s name “Sarai,” (my princess,) to “Sarah,” (mother of nations.)

He changed Jacob’s name, which meant “trickster or con man,” to Israel meaning “Prince with God.”

He changed Simon’s name "God has heard" to “Peter,” meaning “rock”.

God’s names were predictive and uplifting.

They filled the recipient with hope and promise.

The Bottom Line is: GOD IS IN THE DEFINING BUSINESS.

Look at what He tells us about us in His word:

Ro. 8:37 “…we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Eph.2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,”

Eph.2:19 We are “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,”

Matt.5:13-14 “You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world.”

2 Cor. 5:21 “you are the righteousness of God in Christ.”

Ro. 8:30 We are “called, justified, sanctified, and glorified.”

I could go on but I think you get it!

Clearly, the Bible seeks to define us as God’s children of hope, promise, and destiny.

This is why it is crucial that the source of our defining is God and not men or the devil.

The miracle of Jabez is his understanding that God did not view him according to his negative name.

He believed that God saw him as a man of promise, of destiny, of purpose, and of great potential.

This led him to pray a prayer that agreed with God’s definition of him, not man’s.

As a result,

III. God granted his request

The Bible doesn’t elaborate on exactly what the blessings were that came Jabez’s way, but we do know that he experienced a great breakthrough in the presence of negativity:

He was blessed with blessing indeed.

God’s hand of power was with him.

He saw the prosperous enlargement of his business, the widening of his horizons.

He was kept from personal harm and, opposite to what his name implied, he didn’t harm others or cause them sorrow.

QUESTION:

Do you see yourself the way God sees you?

Have you been defined in a way that doesn’t agree with God’s view of you?

Do you need a breakthrough against negative messages sent TO you ABOUT you?

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