The favor of God is unmerited by fallen beings, yet it is manifested in His people, some more, some less according to nuances in attitudes, and a willingness to obey Him. Several persons in the Bible enjoyed the favor of God upon them, and these examples, and the situations in which they occurred should be fully understood by those who desire God’s favor upon them and their families.
Joseph was favored by God, even though he was sold into slavery in a foreign land. After all his tears and soul deep searching he turned to the God of His fathers, and there in Egypt, he served and obeyed God with a cheerful spirit. The favor of God was bestowed upon him, even though, like everyone else he had to surmount difficulties, problems and challenges of his own.
The favor of God upon Joseph also notably resulted in collateral blessings to Potiphar’s household, for God’s favor is not minuscule in nature, but it often overflows to those with whom we interact. In fact, whenever a true Christian meets or greets another person, some sort of blessing should rub off on the other person.
It may not always be financial or temporal blessings but it may be something related to one’s health, or something spiritual in nature such as godly counsel, encouragement, or friendship, but whatever it may be, the one who is in Christ will in most cases be a blessing or help to others. Let’s read:
Acts 3:2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple;
4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.
5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.
6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
In Joseph’s case the favor of God translated into a host of material and spiritual blessings for Potiphar, his family and his business because not only did God prosper them for Josephs sake, they also had a god-fearing example before them continually, so that the knowledge of the true God was diffused. Let’s read:
Genesis 39:2 And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
3 And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
4 And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.
6 And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favored.
Job also was well favored by God, even though he too had his trials and temptations. Difficulties in life do not determine or restrict God’s favor, and those occasional periods of doubt and discouragement do not adversely affect it, but how we approach those negative circumstances will make all the difference. God’s favor upon Job was so extensive, that even satan was forced to take notice. Let’s read:
Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
2 And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.
9 Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
Daniel also was favored by God, which had a direct effect on his interaction with the chief officials in
Babylon, who otherwise would not be friendly to him. That’s because the favor of God upon one, will inevitably affect another, and will often smooth the rough edges, and subdue stubborn hearts, which otherwise would appear obdurate, uncooperative, unfriendly, or even rude. Let’s read:
Daniel 10:4 And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel;
5 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:
6 His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.
11 And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
Daniel 1:9 Now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.
10 And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king.
For this celebrity chef to risk death in order to please Daniel, speaks volumes to the favor of God upon His people, for it affects situations, people, and outcomes for the better. Some may not have known this, and that’s why we must understand God’s favor. Let’s read:
Proverbs 16:7 When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
But the more the Bible is studied it becomes clearer and more evident, that the attitudes we cherish and cultivate, the dispositions that we foster play a huge role in affecting our favor with The Lord. Harboring a cheerful spirit, dwelling on the blessings of life, having a positive attitude of living faith in God, and being resilient when facing difficulties, all go a long way in making our lives on this earth much brighter.
On the contrary, grumbling and murmuring about real, or phantom troubles, dwelling on difficulties, refusing to count our many blessings, and allowing the challenges of life to stifle the spirit of praise and thankfulness, puts our minds and our outlook on life in a cloudy vein of thought and action, that has an adverse effect on almost everything we attempt to do, even affecting God’s favor upon us.
Every person is surrounded with an aura that would affect those with whom they come in contact. That aura can energize, encourage, and strengthen, or it can deter, limit, restrict, and discourage. When we cultivate faith in God, it doesn’t mean that we won’t have problems, but if we trust God with a cheerful, and thankful spirit, He will show us many different ways to find resolutions.
In fact, having a positive outlook on life, despite our problems is one of the remedies for several health issues as recommended in the Bible, because when the attitude is right, it opens the door to blessings and deliverances which would not otherwise have occurred.
Now, if you find that we are dwelling a whole lot on attitude of late it’s because we are, for our general attitude in life can make or break, it can strengthen or discourage, depending on Who and what we may choose to focus on. This is one of the reasons why Christ did not do many miracles in a certain place, because the attitudes of the people had restricted Him greatly. Let’s read:
Mark 6:4 But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country;
5 And he couldn’t do no mighty work there, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
6 And he marveled because of their unbelief.
It’s not because He did not want to, it’s because He simply couldn’t, all because of the atmosphere of unbelief that was being cherished by people in that area. Therefore, the Bible instructs us in hundreds of passages about the effects of our attitudes, and how it affects God’s favor upon us, either for the better, or adversely. Let’s read:
Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
Proverbs 12:25 Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.
Psalms 100:1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him and bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
Then you have the flip-side by which God’s favor can be adversely affected because of the wrong attitude cherished. It makes a very huge difference!
Deuteronomy 28:45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee and shall pursue thee and overtake
thee.
46 And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed forever.
47 Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;
48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies.
Malachi 3:13 Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?
14 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?
15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
16 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.
17 And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
[Colporteur Ministry pp 67>68] Every soul is surrounded by an atmosphere of its own, an atmosphere charged with the life-giving power of faith, courage, and hope, and sweet with the fragrance of love.
Or it may be heavy and chill with the gloom of discontent and selfishness, or poisonous with the deadly taint of cherished sin. By the atmosphere surrounding us, every person with whom we come in contact is consciously or unconsciously affected.
[Test. Vol 6 pp 43] When the grace of God reigns within, the soul will be surrounded with an atmosphere of faith and courage and Christlike love, an atmosphere invigorating to the spiritual life of all who inhale it.
Thus, the favor of God must be understood in the context of the commensurate attitudes that should be manifest in His people. God had promised favor to His people, so that wherever they went, and any individuals they interacted with, would be affected, in one way or the next. Let’s read:
Deuteronomy 28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe and do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth.
2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice
of the Lord thy God.
3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
7 The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way and flee before thee seven ways.
8 The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee.
12 The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
13 And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them.
Of particular interest are verses seven, and ten of the previous chapter, for it speaks specifically of the enemies of God’s people being afraid of them. The favor of God would thus subdue obstinate nations, and kings, or, conversely, those who were willing to accept of God’s grace would be blessed. Let us read again:
Deuteronomy 28:7 The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way and flee before thee seven ways.
10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee.
This favor of God was demonstrated in real time when the spies were sent to Jericho, in preparation for the victory that God would give to Israel. That nation, having now passed the boundaries of God’s forbearance, would not have courage to fight, and yet, if there was anyone in that city that would be susceptible to God’s grace, they would partake of God’s favor too. Let’s read:
Joshua 2:1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there.
8 And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof;
9 And she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.
10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.
11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.
12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token:
13 And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have and deliver our lives from death.
This fact about God’s favor upon His people is what makes the next instance so interesting, for Moses and the Hebrews approach a certain king and ask him for a reasonable favor, but for some reason he refuses blatantly, and prepares himself for battle if needs be. Even though they plead respectfully with the king, somehow, he is only manifesting a defiant hostility, and thus the question is “Why”. Let’s read:
Numbers 20:14 And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us:
15 How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers:
16 And when we cried unto the Lord, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border.
17 Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.
18 And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword.
19 And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing anything else, go through on my feet.
20 And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand.
21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.
It becomes apparent that God’s favor upon Israel had somehow vanished at a time when they were expecting to be favored. The question is why; what could have taken place in their relationship with the Lord, that would cause His favor to dissipate into thin air? For the reasons, we only have to read the preceding verses of the same chapter. Let’s read:
Numbers 20:3 And the people chode with Moses, and spoke, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord!
4 And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?
5 And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.
7 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.
10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
[Patriarchs & Prophets pp 422] The encampment of Israel at Kadesh was but a short distance from the borders of Edom, and both Moses and the people greatly desired to follow the route through this country to the Promised Land; Had the people, when brought into trial, trusted in God, the Captain of the Lord's host would have led them through Edom, and the fear of them would have rested upon the inhabitants of the land, so that, instead of manifesting hostility, they would have shown them favor.
But the Israelites did not act promptly upon God's word, and while they were complaining and murmuring the golden opportunity passed. When they were at last ready to present their request to the king, it was refused.
Even though some may not be aware of this, the favor of God is inextricably intertwined with the right attitude, because God is a Spirit, and where there is a cheerful, contented spirit that avoids the urge to murmur and complain, there, the favor of God will be manifest when coupled with obedience.
It is of critical importance then, for us to avoid the habit of complaining. There is always much to be thankful for, because even though we may not be where we would like to be, let us always remember that there are those who are much less fortunate than ourselves, and who would eagerly take up our garbage and make the best of it.
This past Thanksgiving, millions across America sat at sumptuous tables and partook of God’s bounties, with many left-overs to spare. In another part of the world people woke up to a breakfast of mud-cakes and water, and they dined with a cheerful spirit. We should always be mindful of the many opportunities and privileges granted us, and be thankful for God’s unmerited favor.
We therefore close with a passage of scripture, and a quote from the pen of inspiration that will enable us to cultivate right attitudes, and a much brighter outlook on life. Mountains we may climb and rivers we may cross, but in all things there is always much to be thankful for. Let’s read:
Psalms 103:2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
[TDG pp 305] Talk hope and faith and thanksgiving to God. Be cheerful, hopeful in Christ. Educate yourself to praise Him. This is a great remedy for diseases of the soul and of the body.
God Bless!