Who are you?

"Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes." Isaiah 54:2

One's tent used to be their home. What is a home? The definition according to dictionary is place of residence, accommodation, property, a roof over one's head. The definition seems to depict some palpable evidence of a person's place of safety. Something that belongs to you and where you are comfortable.

The second verse from Isaiah 54 talks about a number of actions which could be summed up by another expression commonly used in the Bible- "enlarge your territory" I invite you if you wish to have a read of all the instances and circumstances in which this expression is used. To me however the most memorable instance of all is the story of Jabez. We love this story mainly because of Jabez's famous prayer and we most definitely love that prayer because of how it ends "And God granted his request." But before we get to that, I invite you to have a closer look at this story, because as with everything else that has to do with God, things go deeper and the essence is in the details.

Who was Jabez? The Bible talks about him in 1 Chronicles 4. You go along nicely reading the genealogy of the tribe of Judah, and all of the sudden, at verse 9 it stops and states: "Jabez was more honourable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez (Pain in Hebrew) saying, "I gave birth to him in pain". Jabez cried out to the God of Israel saying, "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."

That's it. Then the verses simply pick up from verse 11 and continue the genealogy of Judah. No mention of who was the father of Jabez, nor who was the son of Jabez. That is very unusual because normally genealogies tell who was the son of who and you can clearly see a chronology. Who was this man, that God literally "interrupts" the genealogy of Judah to mention him. Why did Jabez leave such a mark on God's heart?

When I look close at this story, to me it speaks about God's relationship with a man in two verses. God was so touched by this man that he interrupted a whole genealogy to mention him and to let us know that he listened to Jabez, because Jabez went to him in trust and asked. He trusted above what others said about him. He trusted above the name that others gave him. In Judaism names are very important. They're not just names given to you because they sound nice. To Jews your name is your destiny, your identity, something that your parents desire you to become. His mother called him "Pain" but Jabez refused to accept that destiny and he went to the God of Israel for a new name.

Ok, so what is the essence here? The essence is one word "Identity". If your mother had called you "Pain" and you had to contemplate the rest of your existence being called and associated with pain, what do you think your identity would be? How would you describe yourself? Would it be "I am the one who causes pain"?

Do you know what I love about Jabez more than even his faith and his prayer?

This man got it- The only way you will enlarge your territory and step out, higher and wider is if you know your identity. But what is even more amazing about this man is that he understood that his identity was in God. And that is the only identity that matters.

So what is enlarging your territory? To me it means stepping out where you didn't dare to go before. And after trying and failing, at times quite miserably, for 14 years I believe that the only way to do that in a life altering, never be the same way, is by understanding who God is to you and who you are because of Him.

Forget what others told you, who cares how you described yourself in the past, so what if they called you pain. Who are you now? What is He to you? Answer these two questions and good luck to anyone trying to stand in your way after that.