The 50 Day Spiritual Adventure

More Than Survivors

I Chronicles 4:9&10

September 11, 2001

We woke that morning concerned about a scandal concerning a California congressman. We were concerned about the Social Security “Lockbox.” All around the south eastern part of the United States, people were afraid to go into the water after a rash of shark attacks. The stock market was in a slump, people were still griping about the election, and our president was still getting a feel for the job he had won so narrowly less than a year earlier.

Our heroes were sports figures like Shaquille Oniel, Coby Bryant or Brett Favre. Or our heroes were entertainers like Oprah Winfrey, Harrison Ford, or Garth Brooks, or maybe politicians like George Bush, Nelson Mandela, or Bill Clinton.

We started that day like any other, safe and secure in our Super-Power land.

When we went to bed that night, the world had changed. The problems of the morning were dwarfed by they events of the day. We spent that evening at hastily arranged prayer meetings, and when we went to bed, the whole world had changed.

Shark attacks that had killed two were replaced by terrorist attacks that killed thousands. Personal scandal was replaced by international treachery. On Wall street, concerns of falling stock prices were replaced by images of falling buildings. Concerns about Social Security were eclipsed by fears of our National Security, and our president found himself suddenly thrust into the position of war-time president.

And just as quickly, or definition of “hero” changed. The idea of a money-grabbing athlete being a hero seemed laughable when put along side the image of a fireman rushing headlong into a building that everyone else was trying to get out of. Action-film “heroes” were replaced by common men and women who sacrificed their own lives to save the lives of others.

Hero.

The word took a new meaning in just a few, eventful hours. Talk to those who were heroes on September 11, and they will tell you they just did what anyone else would have done. They did their job; they followed through on their training. They’re just regular folks.

I recently completed the book, Flags of our Fathers, a story of the six men depicted in the photo and statue of the flag-raising over the Island of Iwo Jima in World War II. During that 30-day battle, on an island only 2 miles wide and 4 miles long, 60,000 US Marines battled 20,000 Japanese. The Japanese had created an incredible network of tunnels connecting underground barracks, gun placements, and even an underground hospital that could serve 700 men. The marines were forced to fight on the rocky surface, without any natural cover. The battle was the costliest battle in Marine and Naval history. Over 7,000 Marines were killed, and over 20,000 were wounded. 28 Congressional Medals of Honor were awarded for bravery in the aftermath of the fight. Admiral Chester Nimitz later said, “Uncommon valor was a common virtue.”

“Uncommon valor was a common virtue.”

That quote could be used of the firefighters, police, and civilians who did amazing acts of courage on September 11. Common people who found themselves in uncommon circumstances and responded with uncommon courage.

For the next 8 weeks, we are going to be taking a look at some real heroes. People who were, in every case but one, just like us; real people, but who found themselves in uncommon circumstances. They are heroes of the Bible.

Over the past year or so a guy has seemingly come out of nowhere to become one of the most talked about, and quoted people of the Bible. His name is Jabez, and a little book entitled “The Prayer of Jabez,” by Bruce Wilkinson, has swept the nation, become a best seller, and radically changed the prayer lives of millions of people.

By now you might we asking, "Who is this Jabez guy?"

If you are a genealogy buff the first few chapters of 1 Chronicles might interest you … but to the average Bible reader long list of family names you can barely pronounce are about as interesting as counting the dots on a ceiling … you’d rather just skip over them.

1 Chronicles begins with Adam, Seth, Enosh, … with chapter four listing the descendants of Judah … Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal … Koz begot Anub, Zoebah, the families of Aharhel the son of Harum … and then without warning we are introduced to a man named Jabez … his spotlight in Hebrew history is but two verses. But in these two verses we see the distinction this man Jabez had in his life.

1 Chronicles 4:9-10 says,

Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, "Because I bore him in pain." 10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" So God granted him what he requested.

What makes this common man so extraordinary?

1. Extraordinary name.

1 Chronicles 4:9b and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, "Because I bore him in pain."

Have you ever looked up the meaning of your name? My wife’s name, Carol, means, “Beautiful music,” Nicole’s name comes from the Greek nike which means “victory, and laos, which means people, Andrew means “manly,” and John means “Yahweh is gracious.” Bob means, “floats on top of water,” or something like that.

I found a hilarious web site this week called the Institute for Naming Children Humanely. They state their mission as:

The Institute for Naming Children Humanely is a non-profit organization dedicated to achieving a better society through better names for children.

How Can Better Names Improve Society?

A child's name is the most important label he or she will ever receive. It will stay with the child throughout their whole lives. Parents who choose names poorly create misleading labels for their children. These labels can cause their children to be mocked, stereotyped, or ostracized. Mocked, stereotyped, and ostracized children grow to become demented adults.

Sometimes, parents develop unhealthy obsessions. Let us take, for example, the case of Mary (not her real name). Mary enjoys Beanie Babies. She collects Beanie Babies. She subscribes to the Beanie Baby collectible guides. She waits for hours on end to purchase Happy Meals when they haul out the "Teeny Baby" promotion. She turns up her nose and scoffs at other bean-filled collectibles that are not made by Ty™.

When her first child is born, Mary decides to unite her two loves - her child and Beanie Babies. Hence, her son is named Beanie.

Sixteen years later, Mary has lost the money she spent investing in Beanie Babies due to the great Beanie Depression of 2006. She has only the toys to solace her. Meanwhile, due to a lifetime of taunting, little Beanie's skin has hardened into plate armor. He leaves his mother to join the X-Men.

You might never guess that John Wayne’s real name was “Marion.”

In biblical times the name given to a person often meant the character or the plight in life he or she might walk. For instance …

-Jacob … supplanter or one who tricks … he tricked his brother out of his birthright.
-Jeremiah … God hurls/throws … he was thrown as a prophet into a nation of self-righteous people.
-Jesus … God saves … He through His life, death, & resurrection saves.

Jabez has the distinction of what his name means … to grieve, be sorrowful. His mother for whatever reason chose to memorialize his birth experience by naming her son Jabez … because I bore him in pain.

You might say Jabez had a "kick start" in life … that is a kick in the heart every time he heard his name. His name would be constant reminder that he caused pain. What a plight to bear in life. Can you imagine what it must have been like? To be named “Pain”?

No wonder part of his prayer is “Don’t let me cause pain!”

2.Extraordinary Honor

1 Chronicles 4:9a Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers,

Something happened in this man’s life … something that took him from pain to glory.

It is said that the difference between the ordinary and extraordinary is the willingness to do the "extra." In “The Prayer of Jabez, one of Dr. Wilkinson’s professors is quoted as saying, "Jabez wanted to be more and do more for God." (Dr. Seume quoted from "The Prayer of Jabez, pg.10) That’s the extraordinary of Jabez’s life. Is it ours?

Jabez owned the distinction of being more honorable than those around him.

Being honorable speaks to the character, responsibility and respect of the person. Jabez went from being a pain to being more honorable. I said before that 28 Congressional Medals of Honor were distributed in the aftermath of Iwo Jima. Typically the wording of the citation includes the words “above and beyond the call of duty.” Jabez desired to be “above and beyond” in his life – in his relationship with God and with people.

I hear many people bemoan the hand they have been dealt. They have been labeled, they have had broken homes, they have alcoholic parents. No doubt those things affect us all through life, but Jabez is an example of what God can do even in the life of one whose very life is nothing but pain! God can make that life honorable – more honorable than most.

What made the difference in this man’s life … who was at one point characterized by causing pain … to become a man remembered as more honorable than his brothers? It’s the third extraordinary part of the life of Jabez … his prayer life.

3.Extraordinary Prayer

And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.

Jabez is remembered, not for what he did, but for what he prayed. Not for what he was named, but for who he called upon. His prayer became the casting distinction in his life to remove him from causing pain to being blessed by the hand of God.

Would your prayer life be considered the distinction of your life or extinction of your life?

Jabez prayed for: God to bless him; to enlarge his territory; to keep His hand on him; to keep him from evil; to keep him from causing pain.

Jabez’s prayer may not strike you as earth shattering requests when you read them. However the prayer of Jabez brings a big shift in the pattern of our prayer life. Here it is “… And Jabez called on the God of Israel…” Jabez was just an ordinary guy, who wanted to have an extraordinary relationship with God. He came to the Lord with an honest, seeking prayer, and God heard him.

Jabez believed that God heard and that God would answer.
Jabez left the answering of his request up to God.

Jabez called on the One who could, would and wanted to make the difference in his life, and God transformed this man into a hero of Biblical proportions. His prayer yielded to God’s will, power and blessing in his life. As we study the lives of Biblical heroes over the next 8 weeks, and as we keep in mind our focus of verses every Christian ought to know, I think this little prayer can very easily be put on that list. May God bless us indeed, and expand our territory, and keep His hand upon us, and keep us from evil, and keep us from causing pain.