Enlarge My Territory

Enlarge My Territory

1 Chronicles 4:10 - "…and enlarge my coast…"

This is probably the best-known sentence in the prayer of Jabez, and because it is so familiar, it is worth slowing down enough to understand it properly. When Jabez asked God to enlarge his coast or border, he was speaking about territory. In his world, land was connected with inheritance, livelihood and the life of a family within Israel. He was not literally asking for a bigger ministry, more followers or greater corporate influence. Those may become useful applications for us, but they are not what the original words meant.

At its heart, Jabez was asking God for increase. He looked at the boundaries of what he possessed and asked God to make room for more.

What is interesting is that God did not rebuke him for asking. There can be a kind of false humility that makes us almost frightened to ask God for anything significant. We sometimes make our prayers so small that their fulfilment would barely require us to recognise God's involvement. Yet Scripture contains people who brought enormous desires before Him. Hannah asked for a child. Solomon asked for wisdom. Elisha asked for a double portion. Bartimaeus cried out for his sight. Desire itself is not ungodly.

The deeper question is what we intend to do with enlargement when it comes.

Every enlarged territory carries enlarged responsibility. More resources require more stewardship. More people require more care. More influence means our decisions can affect more lives. Greater opportunity brings greater accountability. We often imagine enlargement by thinking about what we will gain, while God may be thinking about what we will need to carry.

There is a fascinating principle in Exodus 23. God told Israel that He would not drive the inhabitants of the promised land out all at once. He would do it little by little until Israel had increased enough to possess the land. The land was promised, but Israel still needed the capacity to occupy it.

There are times when God's gradual work can feel frustrating because we would prefer immediate enlargement. Yet perhaps some things come little by little because capacity also grows little by little. We learn, make mistakes, develop disciplines, acquire wisdom and discover weaknesses that need attention. At the time, these experiences may appear unrelated to our prayers. Later, we often understand why they were necessary.

So when we ask God to enlarge our territory, it is wise to ask Him to enlarge us as well. Increase my wisdom with my responsibility. Increase my discipline with my opportunities. Increase my compassion with my influence. Increase my ability to manage what You place in my hands.

There is little benefit in receiving a field we have never learned to cultivate.

We should also resist deciding beforehand what enlargement must look like. For one person, it may involve professional opportunity. For another, it may be financial capacity. For someone else, God may enlarge their influence through a family, a classroom, a business, a church, a community or one person entrusted to their care. A territory is not important because other people think it is impressive. It is important because God entrusted it to you.

Ask Him for enlargement, but ask with open hands. Let God choose the dimensions, timing and purpose of the territory, and allow Him to prepare you to live faithfully within it.

Prayer

Father, I bring the boundaries of my life before You and ask You to enlarge the territory You have appointed for me. Where You have called me to grow, make room for growth. Where You have given me gifts, create opportunities for those gifts to serve Your purposes. As You enlarge what is around me, enlarge what is within me. Increase my wisdom, discipline, patience, compassion and capacity. Do not give me something my character cannot carry well. Keep me from comparing my territory with another person's. Teach me to recognise the value of what You have entrusted to me and to cultivate it faithfully. Enlarge me according to Your purpose and give me the grace to steward every increase well. In Jesus' name, Amen.