The Favor Of God, Pt. 1.

I’m only human. And I don’t feel adequate to try to explain what I’ve learned about God’s favor these past few months. Nonetheless, I ALSO feel that God wants me to write about it and share what I’ve experienced, so I’m going to try to tackle this thing, regardless of my self-doubts.

I don’t know why I suddenly had an interest in it, in finding out what “the favor of God” actually means. It was right after reading the books on watching what we say and believing in a positive future. Maybe the concept was mentioned in those books and it seeped into my subconscious. Ida know. But when I want to learn about something, I immerse myself in the subject matter and drink it in deeply. I smother myself in it, and by doing this I’m able to claw my way through it all and when I’m done, the teaching STICKS to me. It works for me.

So the following books & sermon series have helped shape my understanding of what it means to be favored by God. I highly suggest you check them out on your own, so you don’t have to rely on my slap-dash summarization to get the Big Picture.

Favor – The Road to Success (How To Receive Special Favor with God and People) – Bob Buess

The Blessing of Favor – Experiencing God’s Supernatural Influence – Kate McVeigh

The Favorable Hand of God – Charles Stanley (August 2008)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, when we respond to God’s leading with faithful obedience, He will unleash His favor and blessings in our lives like never before. Favor is wholly supernatural, even if it comes through natural means. Favor is when God opens up His heavenly providence and makes it available for us, as Christians, to take hold of.

Daniel was favored by God. He went from a lowly position in jail to highly esteemed in the kingdom. Jesus was favored by God. Everywhere he went he had followers, men and women who listened intently to his every word. As Christians we can expect that same kind of favor in our lives. We can live in expectation of being treated differently by those around us. We can expect to be blessed beyond what we deserve. (This is called “grace.”)

The verse that God has underscored for me the past few weeks is this: 2 Corinthians 9:8.

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

This is what it means to me: I don’t have to freak out about the future.

Sometimes the growing list of “Things To Do” to make Mills Creative Minds is seemingly overwhelming. And it’s a slow process. Nothing has happened as quickly as I thought it would, or should. But if I remind myself of God’s promise in that verse, I’m okay. I’m at peace.

God knows my heart. He knows why I’m pursuing what I’m pursuing. He KNOWS it’s to provide money to missionaries and churches worldwide. And He’s able to provide me with everything I need to accomplish this goal that He’s put in my heart. Not necessarily everything I want – this isn’t a cosmic treasure chest, here – but everything I might NEED. And if I don’t have it, but I think I desperately need it? Guess what? I obviously don’t. Because God will provide what I need. (That’s hard to swallow, because we often get so emotionally wrapped up in situations where it’s easy to blur the lines between “needs” and “wants.”)

-Kevin

 ”May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us – yes, establish the work of our hands.”      – Psalms 90:17