Favor
I don’t mind doing favors for others most of the time. I also enjoy it when others do favors for me. I do realize that doing a favor for someone almost always costs me something. If the cost is minimal it’s an easy call. If someone asked me for a favor like driving them to California and back – well that wouldn’t be easy to pull off and I feel I could say “pass” on that one. It’s one thing for a favor to cost me a lot, it’s another thing when the favor costs those closest to me.
David wrote from such a healthy perspective many of the Psalms. He seemed to understand his place in God’s world. He understood that He needed the Lord always. Check this out…
4 Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people;
praise his holy name.
5 For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.
6 When I felt secure, I said,
‘I shall never be shaken.’
7 Lord, when you favored me,
you made my royal mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
I was dismayed.
11 You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12 that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
Lord my God, I will praise you forever. (Psalm 30:4-7,11-12 NIV)
As I read this short psalm this morning I relaxed a bit. I read it a couple of more times because it calmed my heart. My heart is often anxious because of worry and fear. When I take a moment to think of God’s favor over me, I can relax.
As I think back on my life, I can vividly see times of wailing when my heart was smashed into pieces from pain. I had never experienced pain and heartbreak of that level. I was at what felt like the bottom with no place to look but up. The Lord was gracious to me during those times of struggle and pain. As I look back on those experiences, I can now see the hand of God and how He was holding on to me and walking with me through those dark valleys. I learned that He is NEVER ABSENT and He NEVER abandons me. I am so thankful that He turned my sorrow and struggles into laughter and joy. He has restored my soul many times and on many occasions.
I’m humbled and thankful for the favor of God upon my life.
Pressing On!
Dwayne