By: Annagail Lynes
“And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow. And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested” 1 Chronicles 4: 9-10 (KJV).
We have a choice in life. We can be ordinary or extraordinary. Most people are content to live their lives working a job they hate, doing what their parents and society expect of them. Most people are content to be who everyone else expects them to be instead of who God created them to be. God didn’t create you to be ordinary. He created you to be extraordinary. And it is us who make the choice to be merely ordinary or simply extraordinary.
“Oh, but Annagail, I am not called for greatness. I am called to be a janitor,” you might say. Then you need to be an extraordinary janitor.
The writer of Colossians 3:17 advises us, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”
Do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. Be the best at everything you do, as though Jesus were right in front of you watching. He is watching you. He knows every move you make and every breath you take. He knows everything you say, everything you do.
You are called to be extraordinary. You have a calling on your life–something that God created you to do. From the foundation of the world, God had a purpose in mind for you. One that incorporates your talents, abilities, temperament. One that you are uniquely qualified for. And your purpose, your calling, is as important to the God’s overall plan as mine or Billy Graham’s or Benny Hinn’s.
Every part of a car, the spark plugs, the hoses, the carburetor, the tires, all work together to make it work. If you have something wrong with the fan, your car may overheat. If you have a flat tire, you aren’t going to get anywhere fast. If you have a broken hose, your car may leak fluid. Every part is just as important as the other parts. No part of the car or the Body of Christ is insignificant. You are a significant part of God’s overall plan. And if you don’t fulfill your purpose, God will find someone else who will, but it won’t turn out the same way. It’s like substituting a off-brand ink cartridge in your printer. It works, but it doesn’t work as well as if you had brought the brand name cartridge.
Even Jabez had a purpose. Jabez’s name meant pain. Imagine being saddled with that name for life. A name is a reflection of who the child will become. But Jabez wasn’t content to live a life of enduring and inflicting pain. He didn’t want to be ordinary. He wanted to be extraordinary, so he did the only thing he knew to do: he prayed.
He cried out, “Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested” 1 Chronicles 4: 9-10 (KJV).
Why did he pray that God would bless him? Was he being selfish? Was he that concerned with material wealth that he wanted God to bless him?
Jabez wanted God to bless him, so that he could be a blessing to others. Not so that he could accumulate wealth and horde it for himself. He beg God to bless him so that he could bless others … with his wealth, his time, his possessions.
Jabez could not give what he didn’t have. Just as we can’t. We may have a heart for the homeless people on the street or the orphans of the Tsunami, but if we have no means of helping them, our concern for them is of not consequence.
We should be like Jabez. We should pray that God blesses us, so that we can bless others. That he would enlarge our territory, meaning our sphere of influence–how many we lives we bless. With every new challenge, there will be obstacles. That’s why Jabez prayed that God would keep His hand on him and keep him from evil, that he made not cause pain.
What seemed like a very selfish prayer is actually a prayer to make a difference in others’ lives, to be extraordinary.
And if we take a lesson from Jabez and pray similar prayers, we will find that we will be extraordinary too.
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