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. (1 Chronicles 4:10 NIV)
In the 90's the prayer of Jabez was big. You would see it on cups, plates, t-shirts, bookmarks everything. Almost always the text was misapplied and was used as a name it and claim it verse. Bless me, protect me and give me stuff.
But Bruce Wilkinson in The Prayer of Jabez, Breaking Through to the Blessed Life gives a different application. He suggests "enlarge my territory" could be prayed like "please expand my opportunities and impact in such a way that I touch more lives for your glory. Let me do more for You!"
While I may not take full advantage of it, I believe my opportunity to work in the public school has expanded my potential impact on others. There are staff, students and parents that I interact with daily who are from a variety of ethnicities, religious beliefs and socio-economic levels. My goal is to positively impact others, but sometimes others positively impact me. A couple of years ago I had a co-coach on the step team, a cute, twenty-something, Italian babe ( not even dark Italian) whose pants size is in the single digits. Not me, except for the cute part. I thought the only thing we would have in common would be the step team, I was wrong.
I have come to see for myself that you can have quality life affirming relationship with someone who is not like you. So I had to think about some things differently because of this relationship and this thinking has given me the opportunity to grow as a person. I think growth is good, especially at my advanced age. She has renewed my interest in crocheting, silk ribbon embroidery, sewing, jewelry making, and painting. I even thought for a minute about canning after she gave me a jar of mango-chia sugar free fruit spread that she made just for me.
When all is said and done, I hope she will say "Susan touched my life in such a way that I know God loves me and He can transform lives".
In the 90's the prayer of Jabez was big. You would see it on cups, plates, t-shirts, bookmarks everything. Almost always the text was misapplied and was used as a name it and claim it verse. Bless me, protect me and give me stuff.
But Bruce Wilkinson in The Prayer of Jabez, Breaking Through to the Blessed Life gives a different application. He suggests "enlarge my territory" could be prayed like "please expand my opportunities and impact in such a way that I touch more lives for your glory. Let me do more for You!"
While I may not take full advantage of it, I believe my opportunity to work in the public school has expanded my potential impact on others. There are staff, students and parents that I interact with daily who are from a variety of ethnicities, religious beliefs and socio-economic levels. My goal is to positively impact others, but sometimes others positively impact me. A couple of years ago I had a co-coach on the step team, a cute, twenty-something, Italian babe ( not even dark Italian) whose pants size is in the single digits. Not me, except for the cute part. I thought the only thing we would have in common would be the step team, I was wrong.
I have come to see for myself that you can have quality life affirming relationship with someone who is not like you. So I had to think about some things differently because of this relationship and this thinking has given me the opportunity to grow as a person. I think growth is good, especially at my advanced age. She has renewed my interest in crocheting, silk ribbon embroidery, sewing, jewelry making, and painting. I even thought for a minute about canning after she gave me a jar of mango-chia sugar free fruit spread that she made just for me.
When all is said and done, I hope she will say "Susan touched my life in such a way that I know God loves me and He can transform lives".
