Saturday, September 24, 2011

Finding Favor With God

Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’” (Zechariah 8:23)

Sometimes I need a favor. I need help meeting some particular need from someone who has the ability to meet it. Often the favor comes from one of my friends getting help from one of their friends. If we have such friends we are “favored” to have them. It’s good to “know someone who knows someone”.
Sometimes when we really need help, we can find that we have been abandoned by our friends. Even our family may not want to get involved with our troubles. It can be some of the most painful times of life when we need help and find ourselves isolated. Solitude during suffering is a particularly hard trial.
When we are at our lowest in our life, we have the potential of making the discovery of a lifetime. He delights in revealing His grace through the lives of others. The passage before us speaks to the days when God is glorified through His people, Israel. It speaks to the day when God’s people lead the way to a knowledge of God. The passage is applicable to the church today. The best way to know God is to be introduced. It’s good to know someone who knows Someone!
I. WHEN PEOPLE SEEK GOD’S FAVOR, THEY WILL FIND GOD’S PEOPLE. When someone needs God, he will seek someone who is a vessel of His grace. God will send someone to that person or send the person to someone. God is in the business of helping people find Him.
II. WHEN GOD IS WITH YOU, PEOPLE SEEKING GOD’S FAVOR WILL BE DRAWN TO YOU. God's blessings are given so they may be a sign of God's grace and glorify His name. We are not to hide these blessings but testify as to the source of them. Spiritual vitality serves as a magnet to those who are seeking God.
III. FINDING FAVOR WITH GOD’S PEOPLE IS PART OF FINDING FAVOR WITH GOD. God’s blessing is received from God’s people. God wants His people to not only give a blessing, but to “be” a blessing. When we receive God’s blessing through His people, we receive it from God.
IV. WE SHOULD LIVE OUR LIVES SO THAT WE ARE KNOWN AS GOD’S PEOPLE. We should never feel as though we should apologize for being God’s people. If we are timid about our identity, how will the world believe its reality? I should be known as someone who has found favor with God. I should be a conduit of that relationship and a connection to it. I should be someone who knows Someone.
V. WE SHOULD LIVE OUR LIVES BEING EASY TO FIND. The days of withdrawal into the safety and comfort of the church are drawing to a close. God is drawing men’s hearts to Himself. He wants us to act as spiritual signposts, directing people to a relationship with God. It finds favor with God when we are readily available as a witness. It finds favor with God when we are easily approachable in our testimony.

2 comments:

Riley said...

It comforts me to know that God is with me, even when no one else is. I know the Lord loves me and will always be with me. I cannot even begin to imagine the feeling of having no one there to help you in a time of need. Whenever we have a problem, a good solution is to just remember that God is there. There is nothing He can't do, so we need to trust him to stay with us always. Thanks for writing these blogs!!!

Nancy M. said...

You wrote, "We should never feel as though we should apologize for being God's people." Often when Christians are featured or quoted these days in the media, they either hesitate to say they are believers or it is edited out. Some are quiet about who they know-Jesus Christ, reasoning that they might lose an opportunity for future witnessing. To say one is a disciple of Jesus Christ these days is abrasive to most hearers' ears. My concern is that in a moment of pressue, I don't wimp out!