Jabez

You know how some parts of the bible are tremendously riveting with a rollercoaster of action and inspirational thoughts; well I was beginning 1 Chronicles this morning, which is about the exact opposite. It’s an extremely precise genealogy of Adam all the way through the kings of Israel and Judah. It’s dry, bland and even though I realize the importance of genealogy to the Jewish tradition and to how beautiful it ties together Christ as the messiah, I still wonder, why Lord. Why am I reading this?

Well, as I was dragging through chapter 4 I ran across this section on Jebez.

“Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!” And God granted him what he requested.”

I actually read this prayer every time I walked into the main office of the church that I grew up in. It hung on an engraved chunk of wood that would always catch my eye as I entered. I never understood it. It felt strangely foreign from what I had understood prayer and the desires of a Christ follower to be. I always thought of Manifest Destiny…give me more stuff, more power, more comfort, in the name of God, and yet “God granted him what he requested.”

With all of this in mind, what made this prayer stand out even more was something my pastor, Jonathan Martin, said during the sermon yesterday. “People typically don’t pray specifically for outlandish miracles to occur because they fear having to wrestle with the thought of receiving a response of no from God and looking like a fool.”

He said yes to Jabez. He says yes to families praying over their baby stricken with cancer, to couple trying to keep their marriage together and then other times the response is no. “No’s” are messy, hard to swallow and may even leave a taste of resentment and anger on the pallet towards God.

I honestly don’t know where I’m going with this, but it has weighed heavily on me ever since I read it this morning. God has definitely provided for my wife and I through outlandish miracles and he continues to baffle us that much more with our new venture into Chile.

How do you pray for God to wreck your life and mold you into a humble, gracious and loving person and yet pray for more; more stuff, more power, more comfort, more outlandish miracles of financial blessing…

I guess all of these thoughts just push me to reevaluate how I pray and how much faith I have in Him.