LIVING IN THE FAVOR OF THE LORD?

Joseph was in deep trouble. His pride and immaturity had unleashed a torrent of difficulty in his life. His brothers had become so upset with him that they conspired to kill him. At first they threw him into a pit to die but then relented and sold him to a passing group of traders. “Problem solved,” thought his brothers. “We make a little money off this mess and Joseph goes far away to Egypt.” They thought this was a place they would never travel to.

Being away from his brothers didn’t make things better for Joseph, however; in fact, things got worse. He had been sold into slavery and taken by force hundreds of miles from his home. When the traders arrived in Egypt, they made arrangements to sell Joseph to a wealthy and important Egyptian and Joseph began a career as a house slave. Genesis 39 indicates that Joseph was good in this role and became successful. Just when his life had begun to turn for the better, Joseph was falsely accused of attempted rape and thrown into prison. In essence, this was the end of the line, a death sentence. Joseph had been put into prison by one of the king’s closest confidants and the keys had been thrown away. In the natural, Joseph’s life was over and he had no future.

And then we read Genesis 39:21:
“But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.”

Wait just a minute! This verse says that God gave Joseph favor! It doesn’t say he earned it and it doesn’t say he deserved it, although I am sure he was a nice guy once he dealt with his pride. But how can it be that in the middle of a downward spiral of trouble, God steps in and gives Joseph a gift of mercy and favor that causes his circumstances to be improved?

It is perfectly consistent with the character and nature of God to give His favor to one of His children. It is undeserved and unmerited, but God gives it anyway. In the New Testament this is called grace and it is clearly tied to our salvation and our new life in Christ. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9; see Romans 5:1 also).

In the OT we do not see it tied the same way to salvation but we do see it clearly as a part of God’s dealing with His children. Over and over we see God gracing or gifting His children with His favor (Daniel, Esther, Nehemiah, David, Joseph and on and on goes the list). This extending of favor was supernatural in that it caused painfully difficult circumstances to suddenly turn and favor God’s children. In Exodus 3:21 God said to Moses, “And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed” (see also Exodus 11:3 and 12:36).

This manifestation of grace as favor is as much ours today as is the grace gift of new life in Christ. I believe that as God’s children we are to live in and experience His grace in all aspects of our life as much as Joseph experienced it in the bowels of prison. When all hope seemed to disappear with his freedom, and the situation became increasingly desperate, God gave Joseph favor and his situation began to reverse itself. It is a gift that will manifest in your life when God determines the circumstances are appropriate according to His sight, not ours (Romans 8:28).

Here are a couple of verses to lay hold of for your life and circumstances:

“For whoever finds me finds life,
And obtains favor from the LORD “(Proverbs 8:35).

“For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
The LORD will give grace (favor) and glory;
No good thing will He withhold
From those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).

My declaration: “I am God’s child and I know His favor is a gift to me. I don’t always understand the circumstances of my life but I know God does and He is in charge of all things. When it is right in His eyes I will see His favor manifested in my life because He has given His word.”