Transcript:
Hello, welcome to Walking in Step with God. I am Steve McDonald. Today we are going to discuss the idea of appreciating favor from God as we continue our series ‘The Grand Narrative’.
In our previous message, we touched on many concepts about approaching God for the first time, or even returning to God after a period. We discovered God is waiting for everyone with open arms, regardless of what we have done in our past. His love is complete and absolute, and there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to separate themselves from it. If we ask for forgiveness for our transgressions, He is always ready and willing to embrace us as we are and guide us to a meaningful path in life.
In today’s message, we want to dive into what life looks like once we have turned to God and how He will bring favor into our lives.
We have established that God’s love is complete and boundless—so far beyond what we can possibly understand that it may seem mysterious and bewildering. Even the love we have for our family and friends pales in comparison to His love for us. One of the direct outcomes of this boundless love is favor. God will bring favor into our lives ‌so that we can experience and see how His influence changes our daily lives.
What is truly amazing about God’s favor is that it is often completely undeserved. All of us make mistakes, and all of us have done wrongdoing from time to time. Nevertheless, God will still extend His favor into our lives. Let’s be clear about what I’m talking about here. In this message, I won’t be focusing on how God responds to our prayers. God can certainly show us favor in response to our prayers. I want to focus on how God shows His boundless love for us through favor, just because He loves us, and what we can look forward to when we sincerely pursue an intimate relationship with Him.
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I’ll be right back.
Welcome back. Let’s continue ‌our discussion of ways God shows favor in our lives when we seek out an intimate relationship with Him. Let’s zero in on examples of God’s favor, not necessarily in response to a prayer, but favor God brings for no other reason than His love for us.
Favor at Work
First, let’s talk about God’s favor at work. Most of us have jobs, whether it is to support ourselves or support our families. One thing we should remember in our walk of faith can be at any time and any place. Our faith is not just for our homes or places of worship, but at work as well.
First, let’s talk about God’s favor in finding work. God’s favor may cause a hiring manager to notice your resume in a way that stands out above all the other resumes in their stack. While God will not force a hiring manager to hire you, He can and may influence how you come to the attention of that individual. If you do have attributes on your resume or application that make you stand out, it may be God’s favor that allows you to be seen and noticed as a priority among hundreds or even thousands of applicants.
God’s favor may be that He introduces wisdom and observations about you that may not be obvious on your resume. You may very well be underqualified for a role, but God knows you have particular gifts that would bring great benefits to the organization. His favor can manifest in such a way that you stand out as a compelling choice among all other candidates and are hired over many others who are technically more qualified.
Next, let’s talk about being productive. God can provide you with favor by protecting you from those who seek to undermine your efforts, thwarting plans to sabotage your work. He can protect you in such a way that you never even knew danger was coming, keeping you safe.
Lastly, let’s talk about promotion. In the same way you were noticed when you applied for the job, the decision-makers at your workplace may have opportunities to notice things about you that make you unique, and worthy of promotion. This holds true even if you do not have the same level of experience as others who would more easily qualify for the role.
God’s favor will see to it that you are blessed in your workplace. Favor will keep you noticed by the right people, protected from those who seek to harm you, and on a path that He knows is best for you.
Favor in Relationships
The next area of favor I’d like to talk about is how God will show favor in your relationships. Relationships can be anything from family to friendships to acquaintances. In these relationships, God knows all matters of the heart for all people involved in every relationship, and God knows things about every individual you know that you do not.
Here are three ways God shows favor in our relationships:
God may show favor in a relationship by helping two individuals communicate. There may be a rift or strain in a relationship in your life that was once very close. Neither of you knows what really happened, how to repair it, or the next thing to say. God’s favor can touch both of your hearts in a way that will allow you to reconcile and understand each other’s perspectives—especially as it pertains to things He knows you could not figure out on your own.
Another way God can show favor in relationships is through divinely ordered connections. This is one of the most exciting things to witness: when the paths of two people are directed to intersect to accomplish an outcome that is divinely ordered. You may have a need, or you may have information or resources for someone else’s need. God’s favor will orchestrate your paths to intertwine in a way that allows one individual to provide to another. It could be a complete stranger, or it could be someone you know very well. God will bring the right person into your path to allow you to receive or give wisdom, support, or resources at just the right place and time.
The other way we see God’s favor in relationships is as protection. This can come in situations where you simply don’t know what you don’t know. You may feel that everything is good, but God knows there is evil planned in the other individual’s heart. Through God’s favor, and with no action of your own, God will orchestrate things in such a way that the relationship will be broken. In this scenario, you may be experiencing the emotional pain of a breakup, but God orchestrates it out of love to protect you from harm and from what you didn’t know. This is how much God loves us: He will proactively orchestrate events to protect us, even if we don’t understand the events in the moment. When we experience this type of event, it is important to lean on your trust in God, knowing that His will is perfect and that His wisdom always surpasses our own.
Trust God with all of your relationships, and you will experience His favor in amazing ways!
Favor Every Day
So far we’ve talked about God’s favor at work and God’s favor in relationships. Now let’s talk about God’s favor every day—in other words, how God’s favor shows up for you and me every single day in ways that have nothing to do with how we interact with others. God will show favor just because, ensuring your day is one of peace, calm, convenience, and abundance.
God’s favor may show up as you are out and about running errands, causing you to notice a parking spot right in front of the store you need to visit, that He has reserved just for you.
It may show up as you haphazardly make breakfast and are about to spill your beverage all over the floor. He may cause you to notice something in real time that allows just the right adjustment in your movement to prevent the spill.
God may cause you to notice when you are working far too hard, unbeknownst to you, helping you to notice opportunities for rest. Conversely, He may cause you to see opportunities to be productive or creative when you are feeling idle and restless.
In all these situations, there are opportunities for God to show up in ways we would not have expected and typically have not requested. Out of love for us, he intervenes to help us live a joy-filled, peaceful, and abundant life.
When you make time for God every day, I invite you to pay attention to the things that occur over the course of your day. Notice the big things and the little things. You may notice that things are less prone to complications and even ‘easier’ than they were before your relationship with God.
Notice that even when undesirable events happen, they are much less severe than they could have been. Notice all the things that almost happened—things that would have been very inconvenient—but didn’t. Notice the things that the world would call luck, but are not luck at all; they are examples of God showing you His boundless love.
Notice how He shows His unbounded joy and love for you through favor each day.
Wrap Up
In today’s message, we discussed how God’s favor shows up in our lives—not the favor that comes in response to a prayer, necessarily, but the ways that God shows His favor across many areas of our lives, simply because He loves us. We reviewed a few ways that God shows up for us because He is in an intimate relationship with us and wants us to know how much He loves us.
We talked about God in the workplace. Our relationship with God does not need to be left at the door when we commute to work. I encourage everyone to be in constant contact with God throughout their workday. God is constantly on the lookout at your place of work to ensure you are protected from those who seek to undermine your efforts. He helps you to be noticed by management so they can see your potential for promotion. God’s favor extends to job hunting; He causes hiring managers to notice your application and resume amidst thousands of others, even those from more qualified candidates. Your relationship with God will influence the work you find and the work you do.
We discussed God’s favor in relationships. God shows favor in relationships that have been strained or even broken. He knows what we do not, and in cases of misunderstanding or miscommunication, He lovingly facilitates ways for people to gain wisdom they otherwise would not have had. He reveals the truth to all parties involved when a misunderstanding occurs through no fault of anyone, and he heals ‌hearts when transgressions have occurred. When an individual seeks reconciliation but does not know the words to say, God’s favor provides both the words and the opportunities to speak them. God protects us from relationships where we are unaware of the dangers. If someone’s heart is set on evil, God’s favor will help you notice the danger or separate you from that individual to keep you from harm. While we may experience emotional pain or heartache when a relationship ends, God knew we would be in harm’s way if it continued.
Lastly, we discussed how God’s favor shows up for us every day. God shows up in small ways, from causing you to notice and catch something before it spills on the floor to holding a parking spot in front of your destination just for you. He also provides in bigger ways, such as ensuring you find rest from your work and revealing opportunities to improve your quality of life that you would have never known to pursue.
In all these ways, God is seeking to show His love for us every day. A relationship with God is not just about us asking for things; it is also God simply showing His favor because He loves us, so that we may have a joy-filled life in the way He desires.
Are you interested in discovering more about the guidance offered in this message? Learn more in the companion article Going Deeper with the Word: Appreciate Favor.
