The Promise Of Favor

The Promise of Favor

If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Romans 8:31-32

WHEN JESUS SPOKE AT THE SYNAGOGUE in Nazareth, he read a messianic prophecy from Isaiah that described his ministry but ended in the middle of a sentence. The first half of that sentence, which he quoted, declared a time of God’s favor (Luke 4:19). The second half, which he did not read, declared a later day of judgment (Isaiah 61:2). In between those two phrases, we live in a season of God’s ample, abundant, overflowing grace, when all who are willing can share in the life, love, joy, and inheritance of the Son.

That’s an astonishing gift, and even many Christians aren’t aware of its fullness. But as Paul and other New Testament writers would declare, God is on our side. We first decide that we are on his, of course, but then he comes alongside us as a Friend and lavishes his goodness on us. If we need correction or discipline, he addresses that need, but even then he is generous with his favor. He has lavished his love on us, brought us into the divine family, and given us everything included with that position.

There’s a catch, though: We generally only get to experience the blessings we choose to see, decide to believe, and gratefully enjoy. If we’re looking for evidence of his disfavor, life and circumstances will give us plenty of trials and obstacles to choose from. We can easily color our portrait of God in dark shades of negativity, seeing him as a hard and demanding master who puts us through the wringer as often as possible. But if we go through the same experiences with an understanding of who he really is, thanking him along the way for all the strength and joy he gives, we see a very different God. We experience the favor we have learned to expect from him.

Be careful how you paint your God. Pray with an overwhelming sense of his generosity and kindness. Learn to see him in dazzling light. According to your faith, the favor he offers will become your experience in the depths of your soul and beyond.

God’s gifts put man’s best dreams to shame.