DIVINE FAVOR

It is Friday today and I'm enjoying a day off.  We stayed up to almost 1:00am and slept in till almost 9:00am.  Felt sooooo goooood!  As I was sitting in the living room reading a knock on the door and my daughter in law, Tiffany, and grand daughter, Natalyn dropped by for a brief visit.  What a joy!  So enjoyed seeing "Peanut" running around happy and talking up a storm.  Didn't know what she was saying, but she was talking up a storm.  The blessings of simple things.  How I enjoy them.  I am reading in Genesis 26 through 30, and the truth I want to share today is something dear to my heart.  Here it is:

DIVINE FAVOR- Last Sunday I preached one point of my message about Divine Favor.  If we are to do a Great Work for God, we will need Divine Favor.  The Bible is full of examples of this, but in these chapters we see two:  Issac in Genesis 26:28-29  "And they said, We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;  29  That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the LORD."

The inhabitants of the land said that they saw that the LORD was with Isaac, and knew that he was blessed of the LORD.  Wow!  Wouldn't that be something if people around us saw that?  That is my prayer.  Not that I would be so blessed, but that they might see what God could do in a life.  Now, how did they see this?  Well, if you read earlier in the chapter, you will see that Isaac came to the land of Gerar, and digged a well that he and his father Abraham had dug when Abraham was alive, but the Philistines had since filled in.  He dug out the well with his servants, and then named the well Esek; but, the inhabitants of the land disputed the well and strove against him, so he moved on and dug another well, he named Sitnah.  Now, the inhabitants of the land came and again disputed this well.  Now keep in mind, these were all wells that he had already once dug with his own father Abraham, and yet we see that he just moves on and digs another well.  This time they do not dispute it and he calls it Rehoboth, meaning:  The Lord hath made room for me!  Now, here is the kicker:  They noticed that God was on him because when faced with injustice and trials, he took it with grace and kept on!  You see, God's hand of blessing on us is not the absence of conflict, but the proper handling of conflicts.  That is the key!!  Don't think that God blessed people have an easy life.  No, but they have a blessed life because, they let others roll over them and keep smiling and have a happy spirit!  They key is who you are inside, not what happens on the outside.  Now, Isaac is one example, but Jacob (his son), is another.  In Genesis 30:27  "And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake."  How did Laban learn this lesson?  Well he had definitely been blessed because of Jacob and his flocks had grown a whole lot, but how did he know this was of God, and more importantly, Jacob's God?  Well, because every time Laban tricked this young man, Jacob, he kept a sweet spirit and God turned it around for a blessing in his life.  What if Jacob had strode off in anger and said, that's it!  Laban is a crook and I'm not going to be taken advantage of!  Well, he would never have experienced the blessings of God.  The Key is that Jacob kept on doing right when faced with trickery and deceit.  How would we measure up?  We want a life of Divine Favor, but are we willing to be someone's doormat so that God can be exalted?  LORD.... let me learn this valuable lesson.  I want your Divine Favor!!

Pastor Mike Mutchler