“Change Your Destiny” (Part I)

Date: 5/25/2011
Speaker: Pastor Johnny Moore

Have you ever felt like your life was on a downhill slide, and there wasn’t anything you could do about it? Maybe you have been told that because of past failures, you can no longer do anything for God; or just maybe you’re reading this today, and because of circumstances beyond your control, you feel like a nobody, a reject, a  castaway, and you have no hope of ever being restored.    Well, there is good news awaiting you! You can change your destiny! Continue on…

     In the first nine chapters of I Chronicles, we find a list of names, known as “genealogy,” ancestors recorded generation by generation. However, it is interesting to note that right in the middle of this “family tree” is a man known as Jabez. In I Chronicles 4:9-10, we find the author not only mentions his name, but also takes his liberty to elaborate on this man.

     First of all, let’s take a look at this man’s name: “Jabez.” To most people today, names are nothing more than just a matter of convenience. But, to the Hebrews, a name was a solemn and sacred thing. It often told of the times in which a child was born. Sometimes it spoke of events that were occurring in the family. But most of the time, names were given to direct, and even decide, the destiny of the person. For example:

Jacob: His name meant “deceiver.” It was actually a picture of his life. But God changed him and when He did, He changed his name to “Israel”: a prince.

Abram: This name meant “high-father.” When Abram accepted God’s plan, God then changed his name to “Abraham”: father of many nations.

Moses: This name meant “drawn out.” It was a constant reminder of how his life had been preserved by God, and it also spoke of his destiny in leading the children of Israel out of Egypt’s bondage.

Joshua: Because his name meant “Jehovah saves,” it reminded him of God’s plan for his life, as well as, confirmed to those who followed him that God was with him!

Jabez: His name meant “sorrow, pain and trouble.” In I Chronicles 4:9, we find where his mother named him “Jabez: sorrow, pain and trouble” because “she bore him with sorrow.”

What was wrong with him? Was he crippled? Afflicted with disease or sickness? Was he born in a time of famine? Nobody really knows, but we do know that every time someone called his name it reminded him of his future— “pain, sorrow and trouble.”  Find out next week what Jabez chose to do about it!

 

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