Ordinary People With Extraordinary Faith

Those that God used in the past were just ordinary people with an extraordinary Master. They were not all champions of great faith, but little people who saw their own need, and put their small faith in a great God.  Winkie Pratney

I was reading about Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4. The first nine chapters of Chronicles consist of genealogies that contain more than 600 names. In the fourth Chapter God chooses one man to single out.  One of the things that fascinate me the most about God is that He will choose someone who is not well known, not wealthy; in fact He often chooses the ordinary people just like me to accomplish great things.  If you aren’t paying attention when reading this chapter you probably will miss Jabez. 

When Jabez was born his mother called him Jabez because his birth caused her so much pain.  Who wants to be named something that means pain?  What is interesting about Jabez is that he was so faithful to God that he asked the following prayer: “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” Jabez wanted to live the opposite of his birth name.

How many times do we go to God in prayer for trivial things that won’t matter?  How often do we ask God for things that won’t help us grow spiritually?  If we aren’t growing, stretching ourselves and dreaming we will not be growing.  God has a purpose for each of us and the only way to accomplish God’s purpose is to cooperate with God. 

If we are going to be an extraordinary person for God, we will need to understand that God uses ordinary people to accomplish amazing things.  We also need to understand that faith is the cornerstone of extraordinary faith.  Faith isn’t just believing in God; it is understanding our purpose here on earth and then pursuing it with everything in us.   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, my faith is often mediocre and that is a sad testament to my faith.  I want to do extraordinary things through You.  I pray that You will reveal to me what my purpose is and then help me pursue it.  I want to be the best I can be for You.          

Scripture: And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.  1 Chronicles 4:10