Destination of God’s favor
Destination of God’s favor
Greetings to all my friends in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ! All the glory to my Lord and my Savior, Jesus Christ!
Gen.39:2-3, ‘ The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 3 And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand. ‘
Joseph was a man bestowed with favor. He was favored not only by God, but also by men placed above him. When we hear the word ‘favor’, we are reminded of favorism, where all are not weighed or seen through the same eyes. But when it comes to favor of God, we ought to learn that God is a God of justice and He is not a respecter of persons. Yet we see Him favoring a few lives. This favor is the result of the response to His calling. As Joseph responded rightly to his calling, the divine favor was bestowed upon him.
Joseph’s father, Jacob was the first person to favor Joseph. He loved him more than all his children because he was the son of his old age(Gen.37:3). Here we see a human favor with a human reason, which satisfied human desire. Jacob gave him a coat of many colors as a proof of this favor, which invited much hatred of his brothers. Soon Joseph dreamed dreams which portrayed him as being placed above all others in his family. Seeing of dreams was actually preparing Joseph for his future and was not a special favor upon him. But the lack of proper interpretation did cause hatred and envy in the hearts of his brothers.
Further, we see Joseph departing from his family. He was put in a pit by his own brothers and later on sold to the Ish-me-elites, who in turn sold him to Potiphar. In Gen.39:2-3, we read about the Lord’s presence being with Joseph which is understood even by the heathen Potiphar. As a result, the Lord prospered all that Joseph did. This favor of God, which rested on Joseph, was the result of Joseph’s right response to God. Though he was hated, put in a pit by his own brothers and sold into the hands of Egyptians, he did not harbor anger or resentment against them in his heart. He did not question God for the tough times that had come into his life. Let’s remember that God’s favor is not favorism in the worldly way. It’s the divine reward for obedience with a humbled heart. This favor of the Lord upon Joseph soon invited another evil eye, when Potiphar’s wife tried to ensnare him into adultery. But the presence of God in Joseph’s lives enabled him to resist and flee from the evil snare. The favor of God is His presence Himself, which makes us quick in discerning and resisting the sin.
Joseph was accused falsely and put in a prison, but there too he held on to the Lord, who again caused favor to come upon him. He gave Joseph favor in the sight of keeper of the prison. Tough times in a humble and obedient life are channels of manifestation of His favor. Joseph never took efforts to please the human authorities. Instead he took efforts to be faithful in his works and thus please his Lord. Gen.39:23, ‘The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority,[a] because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.’ Soon two officers of Pharaoh was put in prison under the charge of Joseph. And one day they saw dreams which they shared with Joseph. Gen.40:8, ‘And they said to him, “We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it.”So Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.”’ Joseph found himself interpreting the dreams rightly. Earlier, he could only see dreams but now he could even interpret them. If we sustain steadfastly in God’s favour, He increases the sharpness of the spiritual gifts given to us for His glory.
Soon Joseph was tested again. He put his trust on the chief butler who was later released from the prison, as interpreted by Joseph. He expressed his innocence before him hoping that the Pharaoh whom the butler served might rescue him (Gen.40:14-15). Though Joseph was forgotten soon by the butler, the favour of God that continued to rest on Joseph enabled him to be remembered in God’s appointed time. Gen.41: 37-39, ‘So the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. 38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?”39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.’ Note here the statement of Pharaoh. Earlier, the Potiphar and the keeper of the prison saw that the Lord was with Joseph. But here, Pharaoh sees the Spirit of God ‘IN’ Joseph. Being ‘in’ God is different from being ‘with’ God. The former represents the state of complete denial of ‘self’ and complete representation of God. While being ‘with’ God represents more of God and less of ‘self’. That’s why Joseph put his trust on the butler in prison, even though the Lord was still ‘with’ him.
In Gen.45:7-8, ‘And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.’ Joseph became the Lord of Egypt and met his brothers. He loved them deeply and forgave them easily. He understood the entire purpose of God in his life. He had no words of resentment or revenge for his brothers, but only of love and wisdom. By continuing to sustain and grow in God’s favor, Joseph’s character was transformed as that of Christ. This again shows us that indeed the Spirit of God was ‘in’ Joseph. As the transformation of Joseph reached its completeness, the purposes of God to deliver Jacob and his family also reached its completeness.
Dear friends, lets know that the favor of God upon Joseph was a result of his right response towards God through continuous obedience and humbleness. The purpose of this favor was not to just prosper him in his work place, but also to resist sin, to trust& obey Him in trying times, to be faithful and be transformed into the likeness of God Himself. Thus, the purposes of God come into pass. When Joseph, being the Lord of Egypt manifested God’s favor in perfectness, there was none to hate him or envy him. The favor on him passed on to others as great deliverance in his own family and as great blessing to the land of Egypt. Favor of God spreads love and blessings into lives who hate us and persecute us & transforms our enemies into our friends.
The favor of God on Joseph took him away from his father’s house and enabled him to reach the place where he was destined to be. Joseph’s destination was not to be the Lord of Egypt, but to be like Christ in perfectness, both in wisdom and in character. As he grew steadfastly in this divine favor, God honored him with power and position. Dear friends, God’s favor takes us to our predestined place of being conformed to His image (Rom.8:29).
God bless us all!
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