Lord, thanks for the riches, but can I get more favor please..
For years, daily I have prayed and asked God for His divine, unprecedented favor…the kind of favor that bypasses all of man’s plans, their processes and their timeframes. I have to say, that God has never disappointed. He never ceases to amaze me with His favor that opens doors and causes things to happen that would never happen…not even with all the riches in the world.
Time and time again, we have all pushed for more money, better status, more…believing that with more of these, the better and easier our lives would be. Well, I have lived in the more and while it was great and did accomplish certain things…I have to admit that it didn’t get me as far as when I had less of the money, status, etc. and more of God’s favor.
Take a look in the bible and you will discover the words “If I find favor in the Lord’s eyes…”. People knew if they wanted the impossible to happen, they could not do it on their own, they needed God’s favor. It was God’s favor that would cause a young girl to be chosen as the vessel to bring the Messiah into the world; it is God’s favor that would cause people to get an audience with the king; cause kings to take the advice of people that weren’t on their staff; be chosen among numerous candidates as queen; protect them from armies of enemies; etc. The list goes on and on. If God is the same yesterday, today and
forever…then the same favor that the people in the bible prayed for is the same favor that is available to us today. But do we recognize the favor of God when it appears? Do we even understand what favor is?
The dictionary says favor is:
1.something done or granted out of goodwill
2.the state of being approved or held in regard
3.excessive kindness or unfair partiality; preferential treatment: to treat
some people with favor and others with neglect.
4.a gift bestowed as a token of goodwill, kind regard, love, etc.,
In several places in the bible, we see many instances of what happens when God’s favor is activated. He even instructs us as to how we can live in His favor..e.g. Proverbs 8:32-35 (NIV) 32 “Now then, my children, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways. 33 Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not disregard it. 34 Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. 35 For those who find me find life and receive favor from the LORD. Read it again!!! Wow!! A profound but simple concept!! I have had to activate God’s favor on several occasions. Actually, forget activating God’s favor. For me, I have developed a habit of praying to dwell in God’s favor regardless. You just never know when a situation will arise where you will need it to kick in.
Let me give you a couple of my personal experiences. It was my birthday a few weeks ago and I received a $30 gift card to one of my favorite stores. It is never fun to shop alone, so I figured that my sister and I could go shopping with the gift card. Right before I left the house, God reminded me the store sent a birthday email with a $10 off coupon if you spent $50. At first I wasn’t going to print the coupon because I didn’t have $50 to spend in the store. But since God told me to print it…I figured, He was up to something. So, I obeyed. We arrived at the store and they were having a big sale on all outerwear. I found a really nice coat and my sister found a sweater she really liked. My coat was originally $80 and the sweater was $90. The sale took $40 off the coat and $45 off of the sweater. It still didn’t take enough off for us to get the two items (even with the $10 off). My sister decided to go and put the sweater back and I insisted she shouldn’t. She walked off to do so and while I waited for her to return, a sales lady came up to me and told me how beautiful the coat was and I should get it. I told her I was considering it but the price was still high. She asked me if I really wanted the coat and I said “Yes”. She responded, “Ok…well, here is a coupon for an additional 30% off…now you can get the coat”. I rushed over to tell my sister she could get the sweater now and all we had to do was believe God for favor with whichever cashier He chose to assist us. As we stood in line, I saw another lady go to a cashier and hand her the same coupon, but the cashier told her she couldn’t use it. As we waited, I continued to pray. When our turn came along, we ended up with a young, gay, male cashier. He was extra nice to us (don’t judge…God can work through whomever He chooses) as we chatted with him and he rang up the purchases. When we handed him all the coupons and gift card, he looked at them and said he wasn’t sure he could use the $10 one, because the register wasn’t accepting it. Then he looked at it closer and asked me when it expired. I informed him it expired that weekend. He said “Alright, you know what I am going to do, since the register won’t accept the coupon, I will just go ahead and take the $10 off the price of the coat so you will still get the discount”. Ha!! Wow!! Needless to say, we walked out of the store with both purchases, totaling $26 and praising God for His divine, unprecedented favor.
Here is another instance of God’s favor in our lives. We just relocated to California and was staying with my Mum until we could get jobs and secure a place of our own. The situation was becoming uncomfortable after being there for about two months. We needed to get our own place but still hadn’t been able to find jobs. I was looking at homes in the Bay area when my laptop started to ‘freak out’ and kept sending me homes from the Sacramento area. Finally, after it did it several times, I got frustrated and decided to just look and see what Sacramento had to offer. At first glance, I realized that the homes were much more affordable. We began to discuss it and decided to pray about it and see if that was the direction the Lord was leading. After a few days, we realized that we couldn’t wait any longer…we needed to move and we needed to move now. Jobs or no jobs. A week before all of this happened, I had a vivid dream and saw a house with certain features and the signpost on the street ended in court; and, we would get into the house for $935 because the owner needed to sell the house quickly. I told my sister about the dream the day after I had it, but had forgotten about it until I stumbled onto a house on the internet. I figured we were desperate to leave, so we had nothing to lose. It was either these people allowed us to rent the house or we would move into an Extended Stay. So, I called the leasing company and explained to them we just relocated and had to be in the area to secure jobs and the only way to do that is if we lived there. I informed them that I needed to know right away because it was between them or the hotel and I decided to call them first. The agent said she would discuss it with the owner and call us back. Within an hour, she called back and asked us to come and see the house. That was a Monday. By Wednesday, not only did we see the house, but signed a rental contract for the house with no jobs in sight. A week later, jobs were secured. And the house…was the same house that God had shown me in the dream.
Favor is not necessarily something you can figure out, it doesn’t always make human sense. It does however, make God sense. We moved into a 2800 sq. ft. house with no jobs and for $935. $900 because there was a promotion to encourage people to rent the house and $35 because the agent decided that although their policy is to have all applicants fill out applications and pay the fees of $35 each, she would allow my sister and I to just fill out one with both of our names and only pay one $35 fee.
Those are just two instances…I have so many, but it wouldn’t be a blog anymore-it would be a mini-series. There is nothing wrong with wanting God to bless you financially. But there is something to be said about abiding in the Presence and the favor of God. Nothing can compare. So, the next time those unforseen circumstances arise, and you go before God and ask Him to bless you with extra money, try asking Him for His wisdom and favor, you will be pleasantly surprised. I guarantee, when you see God move, there will be no turning back and money will become your second solution instead of your first.
After all, who wouldn’t want to live in God’s favor…a favor that is far better than riches or gold and everlasting.
