1 Chronicles 4:9–10, NIV
9 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.

My name means, “Made famous in battle" or "Famous warrior.” It is Germanic in origin and is also the family name of French royalty. La Reigne is a Queen, who reigns in victory.

I love my name.

Jabez probably didn’t love his. Because Jabez literally means Sorrow – Born with Pain.

What was his mother thinking? Can you imagine the stigma associated with that name? And how awful it must have been for Jabez to speak that over himself over and over again. “How do you do? I’m Sorrow – Born with Pain.”

But, Jabez does not let the negative associations of his birth or his name affect his future. Instead, he acknowledges God’s lordship and calls on God to bless him.

“Oh, that You would bless me”
Jabez recognises it is only God who has the power to bless him in the way he needs to be blessed, so he asks God for provision and increase.

“And enlarge my territory...”
And he asks for enlargement - not of physical territory - but spiritual. This is about taking ground for God. Jabez is not merely speaking in terms of wealth and prosperity (although he understands he needs God to release resources). Jabez wants to impact the world for the kingdom of God.

He wants his spiritual territory to increase, to bring influence, to claim nations and generations for Jesus. 

“Your hand be with me”
Jabez understands the power of God’s hand to protect and guide. When Jabez prays, he speaks against the testimony of his name and is not bound by the shame it covered him in. and he trusts God for his future.

Not a formula
Jabez was not using prayer as a formula to get something from God. Instead, he called on God to help him accomplish the God's own promises! And God honours those who honour him. He not only granted Jabez his request, but also considered Jabez more honourable than his brothers!

Do the honourable thing
We need to do the honourable thing today and ask Jesus for increase. We need increased favour, wisdom, skills, abilities so we can take things to a new level. We also need increased opportunities to share the gospel and show God's love to others.

The specific sphere of influence is not important. What is important is that we choose to go along with God’s plans and expand his kingdom here on earth.
 
 

One of the things I'm proudest of about the churches in my area is our unity. Together we put on an annual Free Family Fun Festival aimed at blessing our community. Everything is free from the bouncy castles to face painting, donkey rides and the dog show. Last year the event welcomed around 10, 000 visitors across the day.

I manage the whole day and was asked to write a feature for the local paper ahead of this year's event. Here's what I wrote...

"One of my favourite stories is about a wise uncle and his younger, rather foolish, nephew...
Both men were very rich. They shared family life together and enjoyed the lifestyle that came from owning vast quantities of livestock, silver and gold. For a while, they lived, travelled and worked with each other.

The problems started when their flocks and herds grew so big that finding enough good pasture for all the animals proved difficult. The herdsmen grew concerned, then started to argue about whose flocks should take priority. Both sides wanted their flocks to have access to the very best the land had to offer.

Now according to the custom of the day the uncle was the leader of the households. Once the herdsman started to argue, the nephew should have acted out of respect for the older man. He should have offered to move his flocks away leaving the best pasture for his uncle. But, the nephew didn’t act.  

So, the uncle acted instead. As the landowner, he had every right to tell his nephew to move his livestock on. But instead of exercising his right to take the best pasture for his flocks, he offered his nephew the first choice of the land.

On three sides there was nothing but hills and scrub land. But to the southeast there was a broad valley, green and lush with a river running through it. Of course, the nephew chose the green pasture leaving his uncle to graze his flocks on poorer land.

Silly uncle, you might think. Except... immediately after the uncle gave away the best land, God spoke to him. God told the uncle to look around to the north and south, to the east and west and then promised to give him every bit of land as far as the eye could see. Forever.

Why did God do that? Because He loves generosity. He saw the selfless act of the wise uncle and rewarded his generosity by giving him much more land than he had given away.

So many people in Colchester are marked by their generosity.

Many of you raise money for great causes; run children’s groups, clubs and camps; donate to Foodbank; care for elderly neighbours; coach sports teams; foster dogs; carry out hospital visits; campaign to protect our countryside; offer advice; pick up litter; feed hedgehogs; welcome refugees... Together you do a thousand and one amazing things for our community. Don’t for a minute think God doesn’t see your generosity. He does. And he loves it.

Next month we will celebrate generosity at the Free Family Fun Festival. This wonderful, totally free event is a gift from the churches of Colchester to you, the brilliantly generous community of Colchester. Why would we do that? Because we know God loves generosity and we want to be generous and share as much of His love as we possibly can.

We’ll be at Lower Castle Park from 11:00-16:00 on Saturday 15 September offering family activities including bouncy castles, face painting, a dog show, live music, fun sports and much, much more. All completely free. (The only things we need to charge for is food and drink.)
We really hope you’ll be there to enjoy this great family event. And if you fancy being generous why not invite someone to come along to share the day with you?
 
Incidentally, the uncle in the story is a man called Abram, and his nephew a guy called Lot. Lot goes on to get in to deep trouble because of his decision about the land. You can go online and read more in Genesis 13 and 14. Try The Message version; it’s a good read."

It's so good when the Church can lavish love on the communities we serve. Do share how your church shows the generosity of God to others. And do get in touch if you'd like more information on how we run the Free Family Fun Festival. It's a great day!