1 Chronicles 4:10 ‘And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.’

DAILY READING • • Mark 5:21-43; 2 Samuel 14; Daniel 8

James Watt was a famous inventor and engineer whose work influenced the Industrial Revolution. He was renowned for his improvements in steam engine technology.
When he was growing up, his father ran a ship- and house-building business. Watt spent much time in his father’s workshops making models and learning about ships’ instruments.
One day, as Watt watched the steam coming from a boiling tea kettle, he began to wonder how steam could be harnessed, into usable energy and put to work.
Fascinated with mechanics, as he grew up, he began to work on improving the steam engine already in existence at that time, because it proved to be grossly inefficient. Through much study and experimentation, years later, he began to manufacture his own steam engines, which many people found to be very efficient. He later formed an engineering company that manufactured steam engines and in no time became very wealthy as a result. His ability to effectively harness steam became part of the machinery that made the industrial revolution in Britain a possibility. And today, a unit of measurement of electrical and mechanical power – the watt – is named in his honour.

Just as steam could be harnessed into a usable energy, pain can be turned into power.
Indeed we can learn to harness whatever appears like heat or steam in our lives into energy that works for us. When life hands you lemons, you can turn them into lemonades.
Do not blindly accept the pressures of life, learn to look for the turnaround trigger. There is something you can do that will suddenly turn everything around. And often the key is prayer.

In the genealogies of the Old Testament, there was a man called Jabez. Jabez in the Hebrew means “One who causes pain.” Pain seemed to be identified with Jabez even from birth.
His mother named him ‘Jabez’ saying, ‘Because I bore him with pain.’ However, Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, ‘Oh, Lord, bless me indeed and expand my territory. Keep Your hand on me, and keep evil from me, that I may not cause pain!’ And God granted him what he requested.”
God blessed him and give him a change of story.

Uncomfortable situations should lead us to cry out to God for help. Like Jabez, pain can push us towards our greatest breakthroughs. You can live with the name and the reputation life tries to enforce on you, or you can decide to live the way God has preordained for you. Your present does not have to determine your future. No matter what things may seem like, God always has good plans and good thoughts towards you.

He says in Jeremiah 29:11 ‘I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future.’

No matter the occasional heat and steam the enemy tries to bring your way, determine that you will experience the glorious future God has ordained for you. Just as Jabez prayed and God turned around his situation and enlarged his territory, so can it be for you.
Ask the Holy Spirit for the wisdom to turn your stumbling blocks into stepping stones. There is always a way out. Do not settle for the obvious. We do not walk by sight, but by faith. Through the help of God, we can indeed be more than conquerors in every situation of life.

PRAYER:
Lord, as I call upon You today, I thank You for giving me a supernatural change of story. Thank You Lord for turning around every negative situation in my favor and turning every mourning into dancing for me in Jesus’ Name.
QUOTE:
Your heart needs to be filled with the Word of God to the point of overflow. – WORDBITE 222.