The following is an excerpt from my most recent book, "Reach out, each day". I hope you enjoy it and will share my blog with your family and friends. If you would like to read more from my book, just let me know in the comment section.
Jabez Appointment
You
might ask, “What does that mean?” I would love to explain what it means to me.
A few
years ago I was attending a Bible study at the home of my friend, Diane Tenty.
She is an excellent leader. As she
passed out the study guide to each of us, she said we would each need a copy of
The Prayer of Jabez, written by Dr. Bruce Wilkerson with David Kopp. She suggested we should be prepared for our
lives to change as we read and studied the book during the next six weeks.
I,
quite frankly, could not imagine how a little tiny book like that could change
my life. It is only about 5x6 inches, which
is not very thick. However, I discovered
if God wants us to learn something it doesn’t matter how He decides to lead
us. I admit I am a little bit thick
headed so I was in for a big surprise.
The
first night she handed a postcard to each of us that contained the bible verses
that tell the story of the prayer of Jabez.
Only two verses--that’s all. She
then explained to us that as the Lord answered Jabez’ request, our ministry
territory could expand in various ways if we adhere to Jabez’s request.
1Chronicles 4:9
And
Jabez was more honorable than his brethren: and his mother called his
name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.
1Chronicles 4:10
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.
We
were all amazed as we returned to study group the next week. Each of us had a story to tell!
At
that time in my life I was working for the State of California fire department.
I worked at a conservation camp run by the Department of Forestry and
Department of Corrections.
We had inmates who were trained to fight the
fires all over California and I was often assigned to an incident base camp as a
finance person.
During
the first week after our study group meeting I was assigned to an incident,
responsible for setting up an office in a hotel in Northern California.
At
around 9:00am I headed down to the breakfast room to get a cup of coffee. I heard
a heated conversation between a customer and the maid who was trying to clean
up and put the food away. He was becoming quite loud, insisting she
leave the food until he could get some for himself. In broken English, she tried to make him
understand it was time for her to clean up, but he continued to argue. She was
becoming frightened.
I
had a very strong feeling I should try to calm him down. I walked in closer and asked the maid to give
him a few minutes. She seemed so happy that someone was going to take over the
problem, she just started backing out of
the room!
I
reached over and laid my hand on his shoulder. Suddenly,
I felt something like a electric shock run from my shoulder all the way down my
arm to his shoulder. He immediately
became calm and apologized for causing a problem. After a moment, he thanked me for taking the
time to listen to his problem.
He looked
down to my belt where my cell phone was clipped on and asked if he could borrow
it to call and talk to the man he was angry with. I handed it to him and waited
while he made the call.
Later
that day I saw him again and he hurried over to me, thanking me again for
helping him. I said, “Just remember, we
are Gods children and we must care for and help each other whenever we can.
He
replied, “I was just down town and saw what looked like a homeless guy, who
told me he was really hungry. I took him
into a café and bought him something to eat. It felt really good to help
another person who was in trouble”
I saw him the next morning leaving the hotel, dressed nicely in a suit, climbing into a car with a man whom I feel sure was his employer. It appeared they had worked out all their problems and were headed for the conference!
I
could hardly wait to get back to our bible study to tell everyone about my
Jabez appointment!!!
As
the six weeks passed, we continued to feel God was leading us into situations
where we could help others in some way.
I
find that most people just need someone to care enough to listen to what is
happening in their life.
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