The Favor of God

Every night when I help Papa into bed, I whisper in his ear this prayer, "The LORD bless you and keep you. May His face shine upon you and give you peace." I love this blessing because it is praying for the favor of God for him. 

Every night he says, "Thank you for taking care of me and taking care of us. I love you." Sometimes, he tells me he is glad he is here. 

Once again, I find that God blesses me with how I bless others and I bask in His favor. 

I have been thinking about the favor of God alot since we moved Papa, Mema, and Aunt Jane in. I look back at all that has happened in the last year and all I can do is be in awe of the favor of God. None of it makes sense in what we have been able to accomplish and do. It is beyond us, but we know God showed His favor upon us.

Divine favor implies that the impossible has been made possible. There are so many examples of these divine moments in Scripture. A few of my favorites are found in the stories of these women. Shiphrah and Puah in saving children. Deborah giving wise counsel. Rahab in saving her family. Ruth in providing for Naomi. Naomi in giving her a family. The Widow with a jar of oil in paying her debt. The widow of Zarephath in providing food during a drought. Mary, the mother of Jesus, in giving her strength for the journey. The bleeding woman in receiving healing. The widow with a dead son in restoring him back to her. Honestly, I could make a really long list and I didn't even touch on the men. 

For whatever reason, there are these moments when one of God's children is given divine favor for the moment. Suddenly, they walk into the blessing of God's face shining on them and making a way so that satisfaction and strength enable them to thrive in the situation.

I feel that Isaiah 58:11 describes it well for me. 

"The LORD will guide you always. He will satisfy your needs in a sunscorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well watered garden like a spring whose water never fails."

I will be honest. There are days when I think, "God there is no way I can get done what will need to be done. But then as I am in the midst of our life just doing what God allows for the moment, I know the good pleasure of my frame and mind being able to do it despite me. 

But not only that I know the blessing of His good pleasure smiling, but I know the satisfaction and strength of thriving. I can't explain it, but it is so real. I find myself basking in soul satisfaction that He has made it possible for me to water the garden of humans He has given me. I feel His strength of unmerited grace pouring out on me. It is crazy amazing. I feel His shield of grace surrounding us as I am in awe as His favor rests upon us and in us. 

The favor of God is humbling me so much so that when I woke up yesterday morning I saw the word FAVOR spelled out in my mind's eye just as my mind alerted to a new day. I could not help but smile because I felt the LORD'S face shining upon me before I even got out of bed. I prayed His blessing over my family the night before and I awoke with it over me. How like our God! 

Shalom y'all.