Surrounded with Favor

For it is Thou who dost bless the righteous man, O LORD, Thou dost surround him with favor as with a shield. Psalm l5:12 And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Exodus 11:3 NASB

Thirty-six years ago we moved from Dallas, Texas to a small rural town in North Carolina We left behind two well paying jobs with a sense that God was leading us to a new place. We had fairly large payments on the 70 acres we had purchased. We had no problem paying them and at times even doubled our payments. However, when we moved it became evident after many months of living off our savings and finding nothing but low paying work that we needed to refinance.

We had to engage a lawyer to complete the paper work. I don’t really remember how we came to choose the lawyer that we did, but evidently we didn’t do enough research. A couple of days before our scheduled appointment a neighbor told us that we had picked the most expensive lawyer in the area. We were so discouraged and so we bowed our heads and asked the Lord for His help in the whole process.

We entered our lawyer’s office with great trepidation. He smiled at our little girl and asked us some personal questions about why we had moved to the area. He left the room and came back with some legal documents for us to sign. You can only imagine our surprise when he told us that he was foregoing his fee. He told us that we reminded him of the days when he and his wife were first starting out and he wanted to give us a break. Ten minutes later we were standing absolutely stunned on the sidewalk outside of his office with money in our hand. Neither one of us can remember the exact amount, probably under a hundred, and yet it seemed like a small fortune to us. We were astonished, humbled, and grateful. We kept looking at each other wondering if we were going to wake up and find that we were dreaming.

Neither one of us can explain that whole incident apart from the favor of God. Not many people had good things to say about this lawyer and yet he had treated us with kindness and favor. He admonished us not to tell people what he had done for us. As long as he was alive we didn’t, but you can know that we told people he was very good to us.

According to the dictionary favor is something done or granted out of goodwill, rather than from justice or for remuneration. The Hebrew word for favor is ratson and means to show delight or acceptance. I have since found myself in situations where I have asked God to give me or those I love favor in the situations that we find ourselves. I have faith to do so because I see the biblical precedent in Noah, Daniel, and Esther’s lives just to name a few. I have more than one story to share and I’m sure you do too. Remember to thank Him.

MY PRAYER: Lord, thank you for the favor that you show to your children. Thank you for those unexpected kindnesses and markers along the way that encourage us that you are intimately involved in our daily nitty-gritty’s. We delight in you and you watch over us with tender mercy. It humbles us Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.