The Way Of God’s Favor

I’m working on a theory here.

But I think I can back it up with the Word.

See, we have favor when we follow and obey God.

For example from Psalm 18:20-21

“The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord, And have not wickedly departed from my God.”

As we walk in HIs righteousness, He responds. After all, our life with and in Him is about relationship not religious duty.

Anyway, I ran an errand last night to get something fixed for the house.

As I was waiting for my supplier to find the part I needed, I noticed a hard sided, beaded purse sitting atop a box in her garage.

It looked like it was one-good-cleaning from being carted off to Goodwill.

But I liked the bag a lot. See the picture. It would be perfect for an evening out.

So, I asked if it was for sale.

“No, no, it’s my daughters and I keep it out here because I know she’ll come looking for it in six months, wondering where it is.”

“I understand. It’s a lovely bag.”

We chatted a few more minutes, as she tried the replacement part on my appliance, about how fickle teen girls can be. 🙂

The conversation moved toward God, as she made out my bill, then toward a relationship issue in her life.

I felt the blip of the Holy Spirit. So subtle, almost easy to ignore. But…

“Can I pray for this person?” I asked.

“Oh, please, would you?”

At the end of our prayer, she walked over to the garage. “Here, please, take this.” And she offered me the beaded handbag.

“No, I couldn’t. Please, keep it for your daughter.”

“She would want you to have it. I bought it for her and she’s never even used it.”

“Are you sure?” I certainly didn’t pray for this woman because I wanted the bag or any sort of gift. “Won’t your daughter want it?”

“No, no… please….”

So I accepted. Because at some point it becomes rude to deny a gift.

This happened to me in the spring too. I gave a friend a Dooney & Burke bag I’d had for several years and but had stopped using.

She was looking for a certain kind of bag and I asked her if the one I had served her needs. She loved it and I was happy to give it to her.

A few minutes later, we were talking about lip gloss and she passed over a lovely shade of mauve from Mac.

When I said how much I liked it, she offered to give it to me.

“No, I can’t take your lip gloss.”

She insisted.

When I refused again, she almost seemed… hurt.

She could accept a gift from me but I couldn’t accept one from her?

I repented and accepted her gift with delight.

Generosity breeds generosity.

Being and abiding in God often garners us favor. NOT that we do it for favor or gift, or you-scratch-my-back-and-I’ll-scratch-yours intention, but that’s sort of how God’s kingdom works.

You follow His ways and heart, and they follow you back.

God does that, you know? He gave us Jesus so we give Him our hearts.

Then He gives us the Holy Spirit which comes with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.

We give Him our wants and desires. He gives us better ones in return.

How about our money? As we are generous with our money, giving and wise, God is more generous back to us.

Our health remains strong or we get a raise and promotion. Perhaps our appliances don’t break down.

The appliance I needed a part for is over 15 years old and has only needed a new part once. My supplier was surprised the part she replaced last night lasted so long!

Sometimes we get squeezed in our finances or it seems every time we turn around, something is going wrong, but trust Him. God will supply your needs!

You can’t out give God. No one is going to stand before God and ask Him for an accounting. He’s not going to owe any of us.

Anyway, back to the point of this blog. What I saw last night was my weak attempt to step out and comfort this woman with the comfort of heaven resulted in a surprise blessing for me.

Hey, that’s the first time that’s happened, in that way, but as we follow Christ, the world softens, hearts open, and love is shared.

Let’s purpose to follow the Lord, be obedient and watch love abound. Phil 1:9

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