I want to talk with you this weekend about favor — God’s favor.
I have been listening to a gospel song by Kirk Franklin, called “Favor,” and the song’s powerful lyrics remind me that Christians have the favor of God. Favor is not described as being rich or having fancy things, but having God in our lives, directing us and helping us through tough situations. Favor means God is turning that tough thing into a wonderful blessing. Listening to this song reminded me of the men and women in the Bible, who are living examples of God’s favor.
When I think of favor, I immediately recall Joseph. Bad things happened to him, but you can still see God’s hand in his life. Look at how the Bible describes the difficulties Joseph endured despite having God’s favor: “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh King of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace,” Acts 7:9-10.
Not only was Joseph sold into slavery by his brothers, but he was falsely accused of sexually assaulting his boss’s wife. Joseph was sent to prison, instead of being put to death. While in prison, he was able to interpret the dreams of officials and even the Pharaoh. The dream interpretation was important because a portion of the dream was about a famine that would plague Egypt. Joseph found favor with the pharaoh for interpreting his dream and was given a prestigious job in the kingdom and he was also able to use his position and power to bring his family to Egypt and make sure they had enough to eat. Joseph even reconciled with his brothers. Joseph’s life was not perfect, nor was it without pain and disappointment, but you can see how God used those bad things for good. I think those bad things that happened to Joseph trained him and made him a better person. If you read his story in Genesis, you can see how much he grew from those trials.
While not every Christian may have a “Joseph story,” you do have “your” story and it is important too. Your story may be about the people God removed from your life because they caused you harm; Or you might have a story about a door God closed because going to that place may have cut you off from God; Your story could also be that by becoming a Christian, you encouraged others in our family to do the same and changed their lives and that of your descendants forever — just because you took a chance to believe in God and His plan for your life.
Ladies, please know that God is working in your lives now and that you have favor. There are many verses in the Bible that talk about God’s favor in our lives. Here are a few:
Psalm 30:5 says, “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” Yes, not only do we have God’s favor, but we have it all our lives!
And Psalm 5:12 says: “Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.” This verse shows us that God’s favor can be our protection!
God is always near — even if you can’t feel him, and even when you doubt him, he is there, loving you.
One of the things I do when I doubt God’s favor, doubt His promises for my life or feel overwhelmed by stress, is to sing and dance to gospel music. I want to share the Youtube links to “F.A.V.O.R.” with you. Enjoy this song ladies, and dance it out if you dare — remembering that you have God’s never-ending favor!