God’s Favor is For You

by Regina Piper Brown

Key Verse: “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:3 NLT

December 2023 was a difficult time for me. I was struggling to function well at my job as a property manager in my relationships with my residents, I was struggling in my relationship with my husband and felt as if my marriage was falling apart, and as a newly empty-nester I was struggling to navigate my new relationships with my children. Everywhere I looked I found heartache and breakdown. What I couldn’t find was God’s favor anywhere. It seemed to have passed me by.

Genesis chapter 12 verses 1-3 give us the first hint at the favor of God as He promises to pour it out on the nation of Israel through a man named Abram. God tells Abram He will set him apart and pour out his blessings upon him and make him into a great nation. And he is going to have God’s favor on him at all times, that all who curse him will be cursed, and “all the families on earth will be blessed through you.” This is a promise of favor that Israel received by God some thousands of years ago, and a promise that still holds true today.

But even from the beginning, Abram did not seem to experience God’s favor right away. There were many struggles with following after God’s call on his life: he had to face famine, he had to separate from his nephew, Lot, then he had to rescue his nephew from kidnappers, and also he couldn’t get his wife pregnant even though God had promised them a son and heir.

It’s safe to say we’ve all been where Abram was, risking part of ourselves to follow God’s plan, but secretly wondering where was this favor He promised us?

Then, something crazy happens in chapter 17 of Genesis which gives us a little insight into what God’s thoughts are on his favor. The Lord appeared to Abram, changed his name, and made a covenant with him, saying, “I am El-Shaddai-God Almighty. Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. I will make a covenant with you, by which I will give you countless descendants.”

God gave Abraham a new name, and gave Abraham a new name to call Him. He also instructed Abraham to serve Him faithfully despite what’s in front of him, and live a blameless life regardless of what he receives. But God promises to be faithful and blameless, as well. Promising the descendants He has continuously promised Abraham from the beginning of his calling.

Just because you don’t see what God has promised yet doesn’t give you permission to stop following Him. Keep going, friend. God’s not done until His promise is fulfilled. That was what this covenant was all about. He was reminding Abraham that He wasn’t done. Just because Abraham was ninety-nine years old didn’t mean that he was too old for God to use him.

This covenant God made with Abraham is for you and me, as well. We can have the favor of God because we are children of the covenant by the blood of Jesus Christ.

So what does that mean for us? As I’m looking at my circumstances and I’m wondering to myself where is this favor of God, I realize it might be time to take a bit of inventory of my life.

Here are a few ways I help myself find God’s favor in my life when I’m having trouble spotting it:

Look for the people God gives me to help me

I can always seem to find God’s favor in the people He’s put in my life who bless me with their love and support. Who are the people who love and support you? Have you shown gratitude to them lately for the way they show up in you life for you? Doing this will help you feel God’s favor upon you in a huge way!

Look for the ways God has rescued or redeemed you past and what you have learned form it hat you can use ow in your present circumstances

I used to think that my past was something to get past, get over, and hide and cover up so as not to let anyone know what happened there. But now I know better! The best place to find inspiration for God’s favor is in your past history with God. Rooting through my history with God and seeing all the ways God showed up for me right on time or right where I needed Him helped me to see that He was a God who showed favor when and where I was, no matter if I was in His will – or not. And seeing how God carried me through hard times in my past helped me to see that God’s favor would be there to carry me through in my current season, as well because He’s the same God and He loves me the same today as He did then and He never fails to love me.

Look for the ways God shows up for others and celebrate their favor knowing God can do the same for you!

Celebrating others is contagious. If you celebrate someone else and recognize that God’s favor on their life means God’s favor can also exist in your life, then chances are you will eventually begin to see it in your life too!

Friend, God’s favor exists all around you and it is for you. All you have to do to receive God’s favor is believe that it’s yours and receive it.

Blessings,