By Sam Nobles
The
people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians
for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. And the LORD had given the people
favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they
asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.
Exodus 12:35-36 ESV
God is just and fair in all of His dealings. So, it wouldn’t be right for the Israelites to rid of the Egyptian people just because they were Egyptians. It is important to realize that for 400 years God’s people had been working as slaves in a very harsh environment without pay– they were due some damages and back wages. Israel was not walking out of Egypt with anything they didn’t earn or didn’t deserve. Life can be very unfair, and favor is God making sure that injustice is corrected in your life; therefore, God’s favor is not God ripping someone off on our behalf. God wants to you and me to be treated fairly with equity, and the devil fights tooth and nail to make sure you don’t get any blessing in your life.
God’s Favor Always Begins with a Commitment
Joseph’s brothers
couldn’t stand him. Joseph chose to stand with his dad over his them (Genesis 37:1-4 Now Jacob lived in the land where his father
had sojourned, in the land of Canaan. These are the records of the generations
of Jacob. Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his
brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons
of Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought back a bad report about them
to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was
the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic. His brothers saw
that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him
and could not speak to him on friendly terms.(Genesis 37:1-4)). The result was the hatred of his brothers
which led them to putting Joseph in a pit and selling him as a slave. Joseph
was almost killed by his brothers, sold twice as a slave, and ended up in a
country where he didn’t understand the language or the culture, but the Lord
was with him (Now
Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of
Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had
taken him down there. The LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man.
And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Now his master saw that
the LORD was with him and how the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his
hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and
he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his
charge.(Genesis 39:1-4 )Genesis 39:1-4).
There will be times in
your life when things will go in the direction that you don’t want them to go,
but the Lord is with you. Learn to be content where you are because that’s
where God is, and His favor is working on your behalf even if you can’t see it.
Even when things got worse for Joseph he kept a positive attitude and faith in
God.
Joseph was arrested and
put in prison for a crime he didn’t commit against his master’s wife. Joseph
went from being head slave to head prisoner, and eventually head of Egypt (Genesis 39:21-23).
The very man who had Joseph unjustly thrown into prison now had to bow at
Joseph’s feet. The very brothers who had sold Joseph into slavery now have to
bow at Joseph’s feet and beg him for their lives.
When God gives you favor
He makes right the wrongs and injustices that you’ve suffered. It was Joseph’s
commitment to God and pure living that led him into the favor that God had
waiting on him.
Scripture to Claim:
For you
bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield.
Psalm 5:12 ESV
Psalm 5:12 ESV
