"...and his mother called his name Jabez, saying: Because I bore him in pain" ~I Chron 4:9~

Jabez came into this world known for "causing pain". It sounds like his entrance was not a welcome one, and his name would overshadow that fact all his life, marked for everyone to know. I wonder about the mother of Jabez...I wonder was the physical childbirth that difficult to bear, or was the pain of Jabez's birth related more to difficult circumstances that he was born into? How hard were they struggling to get by, to feed other children, how hard was she already working every day and now another child to care for....did she grieve for some other reason, heartbroken, and this child stood would be a forever reminder of that sad time in her life....How many women find the miracle of an expected little one, not so miraculous for where life is at the moment. But God makes no mistakes. He is more aware of where we are at this moment than we are. He is not a hap-hazard God, and He carefully plans every human existence, equips for that life a divine purpose in the Kingdom's design. Jabez was no different. It is because she named him in pain, that Jabez cried out desperately seeking the Lord: "that I may not cause pain!" Without that name branding this man, he may never have spent his life striving to be so honorable before God and to have his prayer answered. This mom could never have imagined that for thousands of years her "son of pain" would be read about and bring hope to every generation.