Friday, December 4, 2009

December 4 - The Favor of God

"I long to see God do work in and through my life. Probably much like you do. In fact, it is more than likely similar to most people who are walking with Christ. We want God to bless us and want to experience the favor of God. I have prayed for God's favor and maybe you have as well, but what if we really don't understand the favor of God.

Consider Mary the mother of Jesus. The angle of the Lord came to Mary and told her that she was "highly favored" and that she would give birth to Jesus. Now this was a blessing to her, and yet she was completely pure knowing no man intimately. The birth for her would mean public scorn and family disgrace. The whole situation threw Joseph for a loop and thus he nearly divorced her, but was given wisdom in a dream to follow through with the upcoming marriage. To put it lightly the situation was muddled and very hard to handle. In short the favor of God in the lives of Mary and Joseph brought pain.

Are you ready for this when you ask for the favor of God? Am I? Consider this as you pray for God's work your life. When you pray for God's favor just know that it just might be painful and present you with challenging circumstances. Remember when God works in our lives or through our lives the stakes are often high and the road can be terribly challenging.

"Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
Luke 1:28
Further Reading:
Luke 1:26-38

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