(The following is an excerpt from Bob Nichols’ book, “How to Change Your Destiny.”)
“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” (I Chronicles 4:9-10).
You should be thankful that you were not born in Old Testament days. If your mama had a bad day, she was liable to give you a negative name that would follow you to your grave. According to Strong’s Concordance the name Jabez comes from an unused root probably meaning to grieve; sorrowful. Here is this precious little baby that has never done anything wrong. He just came into this life and because his mother had a bad day, she named him “sorrowful.” You know it is just hard to conceive that Jabez’s mother affected the rest of his life by giving him that name, all because it was not a happy time in her life.
A precious baby being named Sorrowful. Can you imagine that? You would think she would have wanted to name him: happy child or blessed child. But, because things were difficult when Jabez was born, because she bore him with sorrow, she passed that sorrow on.
As Jabez grew up he had a decision to make. Am I going to let my mother’s decision ruin the rest of my life? Did you know there are people whose entire life has been ruined by a decision made by someone else? If that has been your experience, the Spirit of God is bringing you to a point of decision: Are you going to trust God with all your heart and believe what God said about you? Are you going to see yourself from God’s point of view? Are you going to let someone else’s negative mindset ruin your life?
As I look at the story of Jabez, I find it intriguing that the Bible says that he was more honorable than his brethren. The Bible does not say why he was more honorable. Perhaps it was because he rose above his situation and he prevailed. Some people just roll over and play dead, but he made a decision to let God remake and remold his life. He refused to live with bad luck ruling and ruining him. He refused to stay down. It is no disgrace to be down – it is a disgrace to stay down. It is not a disgrace to fail – it is a disgrace to wallow in your failure. Everyone has had setbacks. Everyone has had failures somewhere in their lives. Jabez is an example that we can overcome no matter what the circumstances.
Some people give you their success story but they do not tell you the whole story. But here is a man that had a name that should have ruined the rest of his life. Nobody would expect anything positive out of a man whose mother gave him the name, “Sorrowful.” As I look at this story, I see a child who had a “bad” name, but one who made good decisions.
Life is a decision. It is not where you were born. It is not how you are born. It is not the color of your skin. It is not the education that you have acquired. Life is a choice and you either choose to win, or you choose to lose. I have faced these kinds of decisions over the years. Thank God I made the choice years ago that I can be everything that God has called me to be. There are many reasons why I should not be doing what I am doing today as a pastor of an international church. I am here today because I did not look at those reasons; I looked to the One that called me. My head said I could not do it. I had a school teacher that said I could not do it; but I have discovered I can do what God called me to do. I can be what God called me to be. I am not destined to mediocrity. I am not destined to failure. I discovered that I could change the path I was on through the help of God.