God Is Eager to Bless Our Efforts

It is the inheritance of all God’s children that when we enter the ways of the Lord, the sails of our boat will catch the blessed, prosperous wind that comes from Him. We have the right to expect good things; indeed, we should expect good things to happen in our lives, because expecting God’s blessing becomes a prophetic energy that draws that very blessing to us.

If you do not ask the Lord because you do not expect to receive anything, you will not receive anything. We must expect good things from God and ask the Lord for good things. That is what Jabez’s words, “if You would bless me,” encompass, in the fullest sense of the word blessing.

Jabez asks the Lord for blessing as though he were saying, “Father, if my whole life were conceived in Your mind within a word of success, prosperity, and effectiveness in everything I undertake, what a blessing that would be.” The second thing Jabez asks is, “And enlarge my territory.” I want to pause over that word “enlarge.” I believe Jabez is asking God to give him a larger sphere in which to move. He wants to leave the small sphere he occupies and enter one of greater prominence.

I believe he was envisioning a higher profile in his community, perhaps greater things to undertake in his own life. In our case, it might be: What if I could study and go to university? If you have a degree, say a bachelor’s degree, well, what if you could earn a master’s or a doctorate? If you had a church: Lord, what if my church could grow for Your glory, and we could have a more developed presence in the community? What if my ministry could reach new levels of effectiveness before You? What if my understanding of Your Word were greater or deeper?

The idea is that we should not be content with where we are now, or with the limitations our lives so often have. Let us dare to envision larger spheres in which to operate. God does not mind our being ambitious for His glory. In fact, the Bible continually encourages us to enlarge the place where we dwell, and I am thinking specifically of the Book of Ecclesiastes. Let me see if I can find it here quickly.

Ecclesiastes—one of the passages I love for my ministry and my life is in Ecclesiastes, chapter 11. It says: “Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight, for you do not know what evil will come upon the earth.” Later, in verse 6 of Ecclesiastes 11, it says: “In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not let your hand rest, for you do not know which is better, this or that, or whether both alike are good.”

What the writer of Ecclesiastes is inviting the reader to do is live an entrepreneurial life, isn’t it? Cast your bread upon the waters, sow your seed, undertake new things, take the initiative, because you do not know what good may come of it. Often we stop investing in our lives and doing new things because we have more or less already condemned ourselves to failure. And the writer of Ecclesiastes says: Hey, you do not know what might come from applying for a different job, asking for a higher position in your current job, or starting a new evangelistic program for your church. Sow your seed, give your bread to seven or eight, and that will allow your life to have greater breadth.

I also think of Isaiah chapter 54, where the prophet Isaiah invites us, saying: “Enlarge”—the same word Jabez uses—“Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your dwellings be stretched out; do not be sparing, lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes, for you will spread out to the left and to the right, and your descendants will inherit nations and inhabit desolate cities.” This idea of enlarging the place where we dwell is so powerful, such a beautiful image. The Word of God continually invites us to dream of something greater and to take specific initiatives, to be entrepreneurial, because God is eager to bless our efforts.

In Jeremiah chapter 29, the prophet Jeremiah invites the people not to make themselves small. He tells them to buy houses, to give their children in marriage, to plant gardens. The Lord says: “For I know the thoughts I have for you, thoughts of good and not of evil.” So God calls us, as His children, not to be sparing, not to be conservative, not to be timid, not to settle for small things, but to enlarge our place and ask Him to enlarge our capacity and increase our influence.

The person who dreams in that way for God’s glory and not for fleshly purposes, brothers and sisters, is blessed by God. And I believe it is important that, like Jabez, we ask the Lord to enlarge the bounds of our territory. God bless you, and until our next meditation.

https://youtu.be/BuNu_GdSHMc