It’s your first day of school. The teacher is calling roll. “Is Pain here this morning?” This name follows you all through your life…you are Pain because you momma named you Pain.

How would you have handled being called Pain all your life? Do you think you would have become a negative person? Very few people go through life without being given a label. Many times, the labels are done as a joke or to mock. What do you do with the labels put on you? Do you allow them to suppress & knock you down? Do you respond with anger and lash out? Do you allow them to seep down deep into your very being? Do you allow them to control how you respond to life?

In 1 Chronicles 4, we find an interesting example of how to respond well. When he was born his mom named him “יַעְבֵּץ or Jabez because it was a painful birth. We do not know what influenced the young Jabez to adopt his incredible “heart attitude” toward God but let these verses whisper to your heart.

“There was a man named Jabez who was more honorable than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez because his birth had been so painful. 10 He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel,

“Oh, that you would bless me (God’s Provision)

and expand my territory! (Ability to Manage God’s Provision)

Please be with me in all that I do, (God’s Guidance)

and keep me from all trouble and pain!” (God’s Protection & Focus)

And God granted him his request.” 1 Chronicles 4:9-10

This is one example of how God changes… transforms the dirty, messy things of life into beauty… God’s Blessings. It all begins with our focus… where do we turn…where do we place our trust?

Another situation that looked impossible was when the overpowering army was laying siege to Jerusalem. Bad was going to worse but Jeremiah chose to look to God. We find in Jeremiah 33:1-3, “While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the Lord gave him this second message: 2 “This is what the Lord says—the Lord who made the earth, who formed and established it, whose name is the Lord: 3 Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.”

Isn’t it time to stop trying to “figure out” life by yourself? Aren’t you tired of the anxiety… the stress of going your way? James 4:8 gives us a very clear path. “Come close to God, and God will come close to you.” This is exactly what both Jabez & Jeremiah did. It is what David did over and over. And it is what we see Jesus doing throughout His life.

Tomorrow morning get up 30 minutes earlier just for Him. Talk to Him. Read something from His love letter (the Bible) to you. And most of all, start your conversation out with “Thank You.” There is just something powerful about starting off with an attitude of gratitude. Try this strategy for 30 days and let me know how it works.

What have you got to lose?