What is Your Excuse?

Daily Devotional – Thursday, March 28, 2024
Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”
1 Chronicles 4:9 – 10 (NKJV)

While visiting a group of young people, I asked them why the youth centre they were operating from was dirty and the compound unkempt. While they had been at the facility for months, it looked neglected. “What is your excuse?” I asked.

What is Your Explanation?

Most of them said they lacked money, while others blamed the previous occupants of the building. I asked them how much it would have cost to clean the facility and weed around it. They were tongue-tied. They had no credible reason for neglecting the centre.

In contrast, “Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” (1 Chronicles 4:9). The name Jabez means “pain” or “sorrow,” which may allude to the circumstances of his birth. Jabez, though, was unwilling to let his name dictate his fate.

What is Your Excuse?

Like my young friends and Jabez, we have choices to make in life, especially when we face difficulties. We can opt to focus on our disadvantages and negative circumstances and use them as reasons or excuses for not performing our duties or succeeding.

Alternatively, we can determine, by the grace of God and through cooperation with divine agencies, that we shall succeed. To the person who resolves to thrive and who strives with all his might, no obstacle, pain, or sorrow is too difficult to overcome. What is your excuse for not achieving your goals?

Prayer
Dear God, thank You for reminding me to stop giving excuses and, instead, use my negative circumstances to thrive in all aspects of my life.