Today, we are concluding our message series “Dealing with Difficulties.” In this series, we’ve looked at how the Bible teaches us to handle the tough times that we all have to face. As we finish the series, I hope you’ve noticed that we are now not just focusing on difficulties. Last Sunday, we talked about “The Joy of Thanksgiving.” As you focus on God and His power through thanksgiving, you gain strength and joy to face life’s difficulties.
Today, I’ve entitled the message “Living Your Dream.” It seems to me that most people are just wrapped up in the difficulties of life. Most do not have a dream for their lives beyond escaping their current difficulties. And of the few that have or have had a dream, most aren’t actually living out that dream. Without a dream or vision, life becomes a sad exercise in monotony, just a joyless day-to-day grind. The Bible says (NLT) Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life. God wants to see you have dreams for your life and more than that, to see those dreams fulfilled.
God doesn’t want you to live an average, humdrum kind of life. He wants you to have a dream and live a life of adventure and joy. Today we’re going to look at the life of a man you may not have heard of. His name was Jabez there are only two verses in the Bible about him They are found in 1 Chronicles 4. You may have skipped over them if you were reading through 1 Chronicles, since the first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles are a genealogy of over 600 names. Right in the middle of the genealogy, we read about a man named Jabez. The Bible says that Jabez was “more honorable than his brothers.” In other words, Jabez stood head and shoulders above the others of his generation. Jabez lived above average in God’s eyes, he lived his dream.
Let’s read those two verses about Jabez and see what was different about him. NIV 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 Jabez 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 and 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. Now things didn’t start well for Jabez. His mother must have had a very traumatic delivery, so she named her son Jabez. In Hebrew, Jabez sounds like the word for pain. So Jabez was constantly reminded about his painful beginning, as was everyone who heard his name. I can imagine the jokes. Here comes Jabez, isn’t he such a pain. Yet somehow Jabez ended up being more honorable than the others of his generation. He stood out above the rest, he lived his dream. What secrets can we learn from Jabez that will help you live your dream?
To hear more about this topic, listen to my November 25, 2007 message entitled Living Your Dream