The word "favor" has been showing up everywhere for us the last few weeks.
It seems silly to connect "favor" to such a dysfunctional year.
2020 for almost everyone has felt like anything except for favor.
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For so long, we have viewed & used the word "favor" in the wrong way.
We connected the favor of God to what we call blessings or when things fall into place.
The last few weeks - through reading the Christmas account of Mary - we have adjusted our idea of favor and realized that favor through the lens of the Kingdom is quite the opposite.
The favor that was upon Mary also brought with it a lot of unwanted companions. Her circumstance from the human eye looked unfavorable.
Throughout our journey together as a couple, we have faced some gut wrenching circumstances. Some that left us separated, alone, confused, and hurt.
Some that we still bare the scars from today.
In those moments, I would have never correlated the favor of the Lord with that suffering. NEVER.
There were times I can remember crying out to the Lord and feeling the stiff silence from Heaven.
It most definitely felt like I was forgotten and not favored.
Now, looking back, I see it all so differently.
We were being refined. We were being stripped down, peeled back, and rebuilt.
We are now walking as new creations because of the suffering that we endured.
Favor often disguises itself as inconveniences and interruptions.
Why?
Because it is meant to make us more like Jesus.
I listened to a Christmas sermon earlier this week & was left amazed by one of the closing points. The pastor talked about the Lord being "Emmanuel - God with us".
I have always loved that name for Him. The idea that He is came to be WITH us is overwhelming.
But, I had never made the connection that this pastor made.
At the end of Matthew - when the Lord was sharing The Great Commission - the last thing he said pointed back to His birth.
"And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" Matthew 28:20
I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS.
That ... is favor.
The truth is, we all have favor in Emmanuel.
This Christmas, we are redefining "favor".
It isn't financial or physical. It isn't tangible. But, it sure is precious.
Emmanuel. God with us!
