Refusing The Labels
1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (NIV)
Jabez was more honourable 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.
Names are very important. That’s why parents spend months desperately flipping through baby name books or searching through Google to conjure up the perfect name. So you can imagine the pride ‘five-year-old me’ felt when my mum accepted my request to name my new baby sister. You can also imagine the sheer heartbreak I felt when my mum came home with this little human wrapped up in a blanket, with a completely different name to the one I picked!
When we look in the Bible many people had their names changed upon encountering God such as Abram to Abraham, Saul to Paul and Simon to Peter.
Jabez in today’s verse, the very name his mother gave him meant ‘born in pain’. This is only a speculation but maybe nothing worked for Jabez or he caused pain wherever he went. Sometimes we need to cry out to God in prayer to change our situation.
Jabez didn’t blame his mother but he cried to God. Things happen to us which might not be our fault; it may be the fault of our backgrounds or an individual’s actions or words spoken over us, but we don’t have to allow these things to control our lives. Maybe people have labelled you as a failure or useless but the truth is you are who God says you are: you are loved, special and accepted by God. Jabez was in fact more honourable than his brothers but, because of the label his mum gave him, that was not his reality. We need to rise above the names and labels people give us; they don’t define who we are. Only God’s opinion is valid. Jabez is a great example of the power of prayer – sometimes we need to pray passionate prayers to change stubborn situations.
Reflection - What labels or lies have you accepted to be truth? Find what God says about you in the scriptures and speak these truths over yourself today.