HSD: Symptoms of Favor Series, Part 1

Come here. Take a walk with me.

Thank you for meeting me here today. I’ve been led to share something with you:

The measurement of God’s Favor is not determined by the number of blessings you carry but is symptomatic of the consistent cycle of affliction entrusted to you.

You are not cursed. You are favored (37:3).

Not just called but chosen (Matt 22:14).

Full transparency and some context: the past 8 months of my life have been riddled with tribulation.

Even now, if I allow my mind to settle on any one thing, I’ll be met with either uncertainty or tension.

A small lie in my ear tells me even this won’t matter; that this act of service won’t change a thing.

The truth is, I am desperate beyond belief to help the public understand who God is as a person, and that desire outweighs any heaviness and pressure I’ve been carrying.

To the eyes darting over this page—I write to you armed with that hope.

I want you to consider the stories of Joseph and David, but first Joseph’s timeline.

· Joseph was born favored by his father, Israel (Gen 37:3).  

· This favor made his brothers envy him (Gen 37:4).

· Joseph dreamed of greatness anyway (Gen 37:5 & 9).

· Envy led to Joseph being thrown into a pit by his brothers (Gen 37:22-24).

· They had to pull him out anyway (Gen 37:28).

· Joseph came out of the pit and was sold into slavery (Gen 37:28).

· (39:4). He was favored by his master, Potiphar, anyway (39:11-20) (39:4).

· Once comfortable in slavery, he was seduced, falsely accused, and sent to prison. (Gen39: 11-20)

· 39:21-23). He became head guard anyway (Gen. 39:21-23).

·  He accurately interpreted a dream for the cupbearer of the king, who promised to remember Joseph once he was freed. He forgot him for 2 years (Gen 40 & 41: 1-13).

All these moments of affliction and small breakthroughs, followed by more affliction (an exhausting cycle for Joseph, I am sure), led to Joseph becoming Second in Command of Egypt.

Now let’s look at David.

· David was just a shepherd (1 Sam 16:11).

· King David was overlooked by his father when Samuel was searching for the next favor (1 Sam 16:11).

· He was anointed as king anyway (1 Sam 16:12-13).

· David was then called to soothe a distressed/tormented Saul with his harp (1 Sam 16:14-23).

· David later spent years running from King Saul due to Saul’s jealousy (1 Sam 18).

· David was underestimated and rebuked by his peers when Goliath challenged the Israelites (1 Sam 17:28-30).

· David defeated Goliath anyway (1 Sam 17:48-51).

· Had to hide in caves until Saul’s death (1 Sam 22 & 24).

All of this to become king at the appointed time anyway.

Before Joseph became second in command, he could’ve easily looked at his life compared to his brothers with bitterness.

He could have considered the ease of their lives:

The support they had in one another.

The natural unfolding of their lives.

Their acceptance of each other.

Staying in the comfort of their own home.

But since the time Joseph was born, favor settled on him. While that favor was a setup for greatness, it first called for separation.

Sad to say, but from the time he was born,

From the minute his father favored him…

Joseph was destined to be misunderstood and least preferred by the family he was born into.

Some of you have experienced this to no end throughout your life. Constant unprovoked misunderstandings.

It is written, “Now Israel [Joseph’s earthly father] loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him.”

I need you to understand this: There are people in your life who are simply responding to the favor that’s on you.

One of the last cries Jesus released was, “Forgive them, Father. They know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

For every person who seems to be committed to misunderstanding you, for every person who has rejected you and refused you, I encourage you to forgive them.

They don’t even know what they are responding to concerning you, and they are likely unaware which spirit is in operation concerning themselves.

David was first overlooked by his family, rebuked as an unworthy and unequipped candidate to defeat Goliath, and fiercely rejected/pursued by King Saul. All unprovoked misunderstanding. All unwarranted rejection.

Symptom of Favor Number 1: Unprovoked misunderstanding and rejection.

Stay tuned for more in this series.  

Take this back to God and receive if so led.