REFLECTIONS
October 1, 2006
 
 
Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me…”
1 Chronicles 4:10
 
 
God’s Hand
 
Encouraged by Bruce Wilkerson’s book, The Prayer of Jabez, I have prayed the prayer many times over the years. I have prayed that He would enlarge my territory and keep me from harm and free of pain. I have prayed that his hand would be with me to lead me where He wants me to go. And I have prayed for the territory I wanted to grow.
Isaiah 55:8 tells us that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are His ways our ways, so God’s hand often takes us down a road that does not lead where we think it is going. That has certainly been true for me.
It was almost eleven years ago that I made a commitment to let God’s hand lead me. It was a morning that I rose from my quiet time to do what I had always done. But as I arose from my chair I realized that I did not want to do those same things. The story is a long one, but that day God’s hand led me to serve Him in a way that I would never have imagined on my own.
I could not see it then, but events of that day led me to begin a weekly message called Avenues. Delivered by faxes and emails, Avenues was a verse of scripture along with a one sentence prayer that offered encouragement and that served as a  reminder of God’s love. The messages continued for nine years, growing from the first recipient to eventually reach about fifty. Then God planted a new idea. Against all kinds of fears and doubts that I felt, God’s hand led me to write Reflections and send it to a larger group.
That was almost two years ago. Writing Reflections brings me great joy. It uses a gift I didn’t know I had; but more importantly, as I write them I find myself in a deeper state of being and closer to God. I feel Him pick the subject each week and I feel it when his words go onto the page. And I cannot count the number of times that He has reshaped the theme that I planned and the words that I wrote. Today is one of those.
Today God reminded me of the Jabez Prayer and the many times that I prayed it. Today He reminded me that his way is not my way. Today God reveals his answer to my Jabez Prayer, only it’s not the territory I prayed about. Reflections has a new address. It is Reflecting the Savior, a new web site found at http://www.reflectingthesavior.org.
Now who would have ever thought of expanding my territory that way! But God’s hand often takes us down a road that does not lead where we think it is going.
And I am blessed to have been led down this one.
 
“You are the light of the world.”
Richard  Ì


Click here for Printer Friendly Version