The Favor of God

by | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy

“The Lord make His face to shine upon you and enlighten you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace and they shall put My Name upon them, and I will bless them.” Numbers 6:25-27

*Mid-summer I found myself singing the familiar lyrics to one of the Go-Go songs from the mid 80’s: “vacation all I ever wanted, vacation have to get away…” After singing this song consecutively for a few weeks, my husband came downstairs from his office one night and suggested we get away the following weekend. We began looking on line at last minute deals and stumbled on an unbelievable package for Bermuda. We booked our flight and hotel and literally left four days later!

Prior to leaving, I heard a minister preach about the favor of God and how we need to proclaim God’s favor over our lives each day. He stated that when we see the favor of God, we should proclaim it OUT LOUD. So, while packing our clothes and necessities for our trip, my husband and I also began spiritually packing by praying for God’s favor. We prayed for the littlest things – such as favor with the flight attendants and beautiful weather. We also prayed about the big things, such as, an opportunity to share about Jesus, an upgraded room upon arrival and safe travel to and from the Atlanta airport. As we headed for the airport the morning of our flight, we were amazed that there was no traffic and we immediately proclaimed “that is the favor of God.”

We landed on the beautiful island of Bermuda right on time and found our transportation to the hotel with no trouble and we proclaimed our new mantra – “that is the favor of God.” When we arrived at our hotel and gave our name to the clerk, she gave a troubled look and stated she would get the manger to assist us. My husband and I looked at each other and both wondered what God was up to. The manager apologetically told us that the hotel had been overbooked and therefore we would need to stay at their sister hotel. At this point I would normally be gravely disappointed and upset, but because we had covered the entire trip with prayer, I decided to go with the flow and see what God had in store for us. The hotel agreed to pay for our moped rental and the manager personally took us to the sister hotel. We felt as if we were on an adventure just waiting to see what the favor of God was about to do.

As the manager showed us our room, our mouths dropped! It wasn’t just a typical hotel room, it was an executive suite with an ocean view! After we received our keys and calmly stated “the room would be fine,” we literally closed the door and jumped up and down proclaiming, “This is the favor of God!” There isn’t enough room to tell you about all the favor we had on our trip, but let me just add that even upon arriving back on a Friday afternoon during typical Atlanta rush hour traffic, we sailed home in amazement (all of you who live in Atlanta know this was the greatest miracle of all) and as we pulled into our driveway we thanked God for His abundant favor on our trip from the beginning to the end!

I encourage you to pray for the favor of God upon your life today. As you begin proclaiming God’s favor upon your life – wait expectantly – you never know what God might have in store for you!

Prayer:
“Lord, I declare the favor of God over my life. Open my eyes to see Your favor everyday! Once I see it, I will proclaim, “This is the favor of God!” Thank you for all that You have done in my life. Thank you in advance for all that is yet ahead! I give you my life Lord and I know that your favor and grace will follow me wherever I go.” Amen.

*Revised Article, “The Favor of God,” by Tracy Hurst, Christian Chronicle/2004

Go where there is favor

by | Inspirational, Tuesdays With Tracy

Their descendants will be recognized and honored among the nations. Everyone will realize that they are a people the Lord has blessed.” Isaiah 61:9, NLT

Ask any of my closest friends and they will tell you that one of my mantras in life is, “Go where there is favor!” In my opinion, life is too short to spend time with those who do not celebrate you and the gifts God has placed in your life.  Think about this for a moment.  You are God’s unique creation in Christ and even during hard times, God’s favor rests upon us, as we trust in His Word.

When we choose to live for God and follow His plan for our life, we cannot help but experience supernatural favor. Our scripture above tells us that not only will we be seen as God’s favored but our descendants will also be recognized and honored among the nations. And did you know that we are promised to obtain favor even with our enemies?  Proverbs 16:7 states, “When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.”

There was a situation a few years ago where I clearly was in the wrong place at the wrong time and there was no sign of favor anywhere.  I felt like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole.  Nothing I did worked, which I came to realize was a clue that I had somewhere, somehow, gotten off track.  I had become so accustomed to receiving God’s favor everywhere I went that when it wasn’t there, it was a bizarre experience for me and one that I do not want to repeat anytime soon.  It did not take me long before I realized that I unknowingly had stepped out of God’s path for my life.  I was swayed by man’s opinion rather than seeking God for where I needed to be for such a time as this. Hence, I made a change as quickly as possible and I found myself once again living where God’s favor reigns.

I do believe there are times in each of our lives when God allows us to walk through difficult places to stretch us and show us what is really within our hearts (Deuteronomy 8:2). Yet when God leads us to a valley, He promises to provide us everything we need, including His rod and a staff to comfort us (Psalm 23). The question is, has God led us to this valley or did we unknowingly step out of the path of life and lead ourselves there? Selah (pause and think about this for a moment).  If this is the case, then we can run to God and trust that He is bigger than every circumstance in our life.  He loves us and will show us His path of life.

It is my prayer that we continually live in God’s favor and that when people see us coming, whether at the grocery store or in our workplace, they will declare, “Surely they are BLESSED of God.”

Prayer:

“Lord, show me Your path.  I long to be where Your favor is for me and my family.  Forgive me for the times when I trusted in anything other than You.  You are my God and when I follow Your path I cannot help but walk in the favor of God.  Make every crooked place straight in my life and may everyone around me see supernatural favor on my life.  Amen.”