How Jabaz Just Showed Up
By: Madeline Whitmore
Who in the world is Jabaz? Excellent question... Jabaz is a biblical character found in only two verses in the whole entire Bible. Those verses are:
“Jabaz was more honorable 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 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.” ~ 1 Chronicle 4:9-10 NIV
Now, before we get into the nitty-gritty of how Jabaz showed up, let us talk about who he was. Although we do not know much about Jabaz, we do know that his name literally meant “pain.” Can you imagine if that was your name? The only other thing that we know about Jabaz is that he had a great posture and attitude when it came to his Heavenly Father. We know this because Jabaz’s story is focused on his prayer to the Lord!
Jabaz’s prayer (which are the verses above) is how he showed up for God. Jabaz not only prayed, but he also cried out to His Heavenly Father. Jabaz knew that calling out to his Heavenly Father was the only way for anything in his life to change. While Jabaz cries out to God three things can be seen:
1. We can bring God our pain.
2. We can ask God for blessings.
3. We need God to keep us out of trouble.
These three things are so important to remember when it comes to praying. God wants us to call out to Him and to talk to Him about what is going on in our lives. Not only that, but God wants to help you. If you are like me and too stubborn to ask for help when you get into some trouble... let Jabaz be an example of how we should call out to God. This isn’t a sign of weakness, it is a sign of strength. Plus, God already knows what you are dealing with, so talk to Him about it and I promise He is going to help you.
Jabaz is an excellent example of how we can just show up for God by having the right posture when we pray. I hope that as your day goes on you can spend some time talking to God and keep these three things in mind:
- God loves you
- God wants to hear from you
- God can take away your pain... just talk to Him
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I hope that you all are having a wonderful day and remember…
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” ~ Psalm 40:13 NIV