Portrait of Favour

For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield. 

(Psalm 5:12, NKJV)

There are times when everything is going so well that we find it difficult to accept the beauty and satisfaction of the moment.  Our limited human minds tend to be conditioned to accept pain and struggles, that we almost doubt the reality of situations which seem to come easily. Even with this measured acceptance of difficulties, the truth is that there are times when we find ourselves in moments of unexpected success or what we normally want to refer to as ‘success beyond our expectations’. Such situations could be awe-inspiring or exhilarating so that we do not know how to respond.  Reflecting on such a moment, I realized this is what divine favour does for us.  It is a gentle touch of God on our lives, allowing an individual to enjoy unexpected opportunities,  acceptance, influence and even access to people or places which previously seemed beyond one’s reach.  These are moments of divine intervention and I think of it as God’s hand touching the situation for a supernatural experience.

Our reference verse declares that God not only touches the righteous with favour but that His favour is like a shield surrounding them.  The picture of being surrounded by God’s favour is not only beautiful but encouraging, the thought that at any one time we have divine interventions in our lives, is strengthening to the heart.  Beloved, in the word of God we read of what favour can accomplish for us.  When Queen Esther needed to meet the king without prior appointment, we read that favour opened the doors for her (Esther 2:9).  The fact that Esther was fearful did not matter, her success was a result of God’s favour on her.  Joseph in the old testament was sold by his brothers to Egypt out of jealous, yet even in this situation as a slave, he found favour with pharaoh so that in the end he was appointed second in command (Acts 7:9-10).  It did not matter that he was a slave, favour spoke for him and he was honoured in a strange land.  God’s favour on our lives is so important and we cannot do without it.  No wonder the Psalmist prayed that the favour of God would rest on us and establish the work of our hands (Psalm 90:17).  Yes, what we do on a daily basis, the works of our hands need to be touched by the favour of God for greatness and success. 

Brethren, we are recipients of God’s favour even for our salvation.  The Lord bestows us with His favour that He may show His loving kindness to His people.  We are portraits of His favour and grace, without which we would not make it.  May we continually live with the awareness of the portrait that we carry, even as we stand as a light to the world.

Thoughts:

How have you experienced God’s favour in your life?

Does your life reflect the favour of God?

In which areas of life are you seeking God’s favour?