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Today I want to look at one of my favorite books of the Bible. This is the story of Esther. Esther was an orphaned Jewish girl who was raised by her uncle, who ended up Queen of Persia. But the backstory of Esther is what is so incredible. The story of Esther in the Bible shows how God directs paths and people and events.  

When King Ahasuerus found himself, because of his own foolishness, without a queen, a plan was devised to bring all the beautiful young virgins into the palace so that the king could choose a queen for himself. Among those was a young Jewish girl who was being raised by her uncle, Mordecai. Esther respected Mordecai and followed his advice as she was brought into the palace. She was apparently a very beautiful girl and she was a non-assuming, godly young woman who carried herself in such a way that she gained favor from those who were put in charge of the young women. 

“When the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter, to go in to the king she asked for nothing except what Hegai the king’s eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther was winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her.” Esther 2:15

Esther followed the advice of Mordecai as well as Hegai and when it was her turn to be brought into the king she found favor with him as well. 

“the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.” Esther 2:17

Now you may be thinking this is a great story but what does this have to do with favor from God. Make no mistake this remarkable story would not have played out as it did if God’s hand had not been in it. Esther was a beautiful woman but it was not just her outward beauty that found favor with people. God had a plan for Esther and for Mordecai and He was raising her up to this place as queen because there were things that would need to be carried out by her. Esther followed the advice of people, but these people were also a part of God’s plan in directing her. 

So Esther became Queen of Persia, but her King still had no idea that she was Jewish, she didn’t reveal it to him on the advice of Mordecai. Also, there was a man who was a servant of the king named Haman who had been exalted to position by the king and he hated the Jews, especially Mordecai because Mordecai refused to bow down to him.  Over time, Haman devised a plot to kill the Jewish people in all the provinces of Persia. When Mordecai found this out, he dressed in mourning clothes and went to the entrance of the king’s gate. He could go no further as he was dressed in sackcloth but he did this to gain the attention of Esther. When Esther sent someone to question Mordecai as to what was going on he explained Haman’s plot to them and they returned with the news to Esther. She was given a task to do. Mordecai was instructing her to go into the king and beg for favor on behalf of her people. It was time to reveal that she was Jewish to the king. 

The thing was not even the queen could just go in to see the king unless he called for her, unless he holds out his golden scepter to her as she goes in. She must wait to be called or she is risking death as she goes in. This king has been known to be foolish in the past so this was a very scary position to be in for Esther. She calls on Mordecai and all of the Jews to fast on her behalf. Esther and her women would do the same and she would take her chances. 

After three days of fasting by Esther, her servants and the Jews she put on royal robes and went to the king. 

“And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.” Esther 5:2

There is much more to this story than time allows here but Queen Esther, because of the favor that she found in the king was able to save the Jewish people. God used Queen Esther to save the Jewish people because Queen Esther postured herself in a position to be used by God. We can be used of God too when we posture ourselves in a position to be used by Him. 

This story is one that shows us how God crosses people’s paths to carry out His plans. No one  would have ever thought a young, orphaned Jewish girl would become the Queen of Persia. I kind of think that King Ahasuerus was an impetuous king, possibly no one would have thought a girl like Esther would find favor with him that he would follow her wishes and advice. Yet God used Esther and he used Mordecai in this story to save His people. 

May God grant you and me favor with people to carry out His purpose and plans. 

Our favored one today is a woman named Hannah. It comes from 1 Samuel 1. Hannah’s story is one of anguish, heartbreak, favor, faith, peace and blessing. First of all, Hannah was married to a man named Elkanah. Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Penninah. This doesn’t sound like a very good idea to me, but polygamy was often practiced back in those days. However, I can’t find anywhere in scripture where it seemed to work out well. In this story Penninah had children and Hannah did not, and that brought on jealousy. Hannah was jealous of the fact that Penninah had children and Penninah took the opportunity to rub it in. Elkanah loved Hannah deeply and tried to do what he could to show her that her not having children did not affect the love he had for her. But Hannah was still heartbroken over the fact that she desired motherhood but so far it had not been hers to enjoy. And on top of it, she had a front row seat to Penninah’s motherhood journey. I can only imagine how hard that must have been. 

Elkanah was apparently a godly man, in that he took his family to Shiloh every year to offer sacrifices to God. When they did, Elkanah would give portions of the sacrificial meat to Penninah and her children but to Hannah, he gave her a double portion to show his love for her. But Hannah’s heart was broken over the fact that she had no children. Elkanah was trying, but there really wasn’t a lot he could do to make it better for her. So Hannah goes off by herself to the temple to pray to God. 

She pours her heart out and she makes a vow to God if he will grant her request for a son that she will dedicate him back to the Lord. Eli, the priest, mistakes Hannah’s anguish for drunkenness and he rebukes her. 

“But Hannah answered, ‘No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord.’” 1 Samuel 1:15

Have you ever been there? In a situation that you felt you had to pour it all out to the Lord. The kind of desperation that brings gut wrenching sobs is where Hannah was. I can feel her anguish and her heartbreak, as I have been there too. I have been at a point where pouring it all out to God is the only thing left to do. Hannah was at a point where she was ready to bargain with the Lord. When Eli sees that Hannah is not a drunken woman but that she was a woman with anguish in her heart. He prays for her as well. 

“Then Eli answered, ‘Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.’” 1 Samuel 1:17

Hannah has poured her heart out to God, she has poured her heart out to Eli and then she pulls herself together. She has found a peace that God has heard her. Maybe just because of her own prayer, maybe because of Eli, but nevertheless going to God with her feelings, her heart, her hurt has at least turned her attitude around. Sometimes you just have to pour it all out to find peace. 

“And she said, ‘Let your servant find favor in your eyes.’ Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.” 1 Samuel 1:18

Hannah had found peace in her circumstances. Hannah had prayed to God for a son and had in the process asked for favor from Eli. Hannah had found her faith. She had faith that God had heard her. She took what Eli said as a word from God that He would grant her prayer. Maybe in her asking Eli for favor she was asking him to continue to pray for her. 

The next morning, Elkanah and family worshiped the Lord. This time it seems that Hannah was able to truly worship as she had found her faith in pouring her heart out to God. I love that Hannah found her faith and her peace before she received her blessing. 

“They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her.” 1 Samuel 1:19

I love this story about Hannah because it is so real. Hannah knew heartbreak. She knew anguish and bitterness but when she pours it all out to God, she finds her faith. She finds her peace. And the bonus is she is blessed with her son. She also fulfills her vow of dedicating him to the Lord by taking him to live in the temple after he was weaned. She visits her son in the temple every year and takes him a robe that she makes for him. 

Hannah found favor and her prayer was answered. But the most important thing that Hannah found was her faith and peace. Sometimes it takes a good old gut wrenching, crying, prayer session of laying it all out to God to regain our peace when things are not going the way we hoped. I have found that when I do that, when I lay it out to Him, and pray and maybe cry, when I pour my heart out to Him, I will find peace and it restores my faith. 

May you find favor, and through it may it restore your faith and peace! 

So, what do we do when God does not grant us the favor we are seeking. I don’t want to be someone who tries to make you believe that being a christian is all sunshine and lollipops! That we will always get exactly what we want. Sometimes favor comes just because Jesus holds us through a situation or circumstance and we don’t get what we are earnestly praying for. Sometimes we have to accept that God has a reason for not answering our prayer in the way we wish. 

In the book of 2 Samuel, chapter 12 there is a story about David that has always struck my heart. You remember him, David, the one who killed the giant of the Philistines with a stone. He was a mighty warrior of God, he was anointed king but didn’t take the throne for 15 years or so because he was hunted by the former king Saul, who wanted to take his life. David, the one that is called a man after God’s own heart. Well even though David was a man after God’s own heart, David was also a fallible man, aren’t we all! David stayed behind one time when his men had gone to war and found that he had idle time on his hands and well, he spotted Bathsheba and he desired her. He slept with her and she became pregnant. So to cover it up, our David had her husband killed. The beginning of this chapter is the prophet Nathan rebuking David and showing him that even when we think we may have gotten away with something, that God still sees it all. God told Nathan to let David know that as punishment for his sin, that his son would die. Now this is a bitter pill to swallow. I hate the fact that God struck the son down because of David and Bathsheba’s guilt. But the commentary I read pointed out, and it is true that sometimes the innocent will suffer because of the sin of the guilty. And we do know that to be true don’t we. We see innocent people lose their life all the time because of someone else’s sin. So we have to accept that is what is happening here. 

But let’s look at what David does when his child became sick. 

“David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.” 2 Samuel 12:16

I can just see it, can’t you? David did what any father would do for his sick child. He was distraught, he prayed hard! He sought God, he fasted, he cried, I am sure he begged God to heal his son. He probably even said God take me, instead of him. But God chose his son. The servants surrounding David were worried about what David would do once the child had died. So much that they were afraid to even tell him. When David saw them whispering, he perceived that he had gotten his answer from the Lord and that it was not what he had hoped. Let’s look at what David did next. 

“Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate.” 2 Samuel 12:20

It has always amazed me what David’s response was after his child died. It amazed his servants too. I believe in my human nature I would have had me a good old crying, stomp my foot session. I would probably be mad at God for not answering my prayer in the way I wanted Him too. But David actually pulled himself together and worshipped God! That is what our response should be. But I am not telling you I am spiritual enough that is what it would be. I hope so, but I am not sure I trust myself enough to think so. There was another man in the Bible who had lost his entire family and his fortune and his response was: 

“And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’” Job 1:21

A very important lesson here too, comes when the servants questioned David as to his response. They were amazed at his response to the child’s death. David had pulled himself together, and he worshipped God and he ate in order to regain his own strength. The servants questioned David as to how he could pull himself together. David had a very comforting response to all of us who are christians when we lose someone we love but we know their salvation. 

“But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” 2 Samuel 12:23

David knew that he would see his son again in heaven one day. That was comfort to him. He still would have preferred that God would have answered his prayer by allowing his son to live. But David still knew God and he still trusted God and he knew that one day he too would die and go to heaven and he would be reunited with his son. 

My friends I would love to tell you that God will always answer our prayers for healing just like we want him to. I can’t I know too many people who have prayed for it and their healing came in heaven instead of on earth. But what I do know is that when we lay it at his feet and we worship Him no matter the answer we receive that He will carry us and He will walk with us through, and He will strengthen us as we walk the path of this imperfect world. 

May he hold you even when you don’t receive the favor you ask. 

Our story today comes out of the book of Exodus. God had become very frustrated with the Israelites since He had brought them out of Egypt. It seemed they were never happy. They asked to be delivered and when they were delivered all they could seem to do was grumble and complain about their new surroundings. To the point at times of even wanting to go back, back to slavery and oppression. Moses was doing his best to lead the people but they were difficult. At the beginning of chapter 33 of Exodus God even called them a stiff-necked people. He had had enough. You see back in chapter 32 when Moses had disappeared to the mountain to meet with God for a bit, the people got tired of waiting for Moses and for God, so they decided to take matters into their own hands and make them a god to follow. They had taken all of their gold and jewels and fashioned a golden calf that they decided would lead them to the promised land. God was not happy and neither was Moses. 

When Moses came off the mountain, after meeting with God with the ten commandments in his hands, he wasn’t quite ready for the sight he saw. The people were dancing and singing and worshiping this golden calf. Moses got so angry, he broke the tablets that the ten commandments were on and he, well he threw a fit all over them. This all happened in chapter 32 of the book of Exodus. But then the worst thing happened. God was going to leave them to it. God tells Moses at the beginning of chapter 33 that he could still lead the Israelites but that God would not be with them. 

“Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” Exodus 33:3

Oh how awful! I hope I never anger God so much that He leaves me to my own devices. Scripture tells us that the people mourned when they heard this. But Moses uses his favor with God to ask a favor of God. Moses intercedes on behalf of the Israelites with God. 

“Moses said to the Lord, ‘See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.’” Exodus 33:12-13

God had promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that their descendants would inherit the promised land, but He had never made a promise to them that He would be with them in it. God is sovereign, He is all-knowing, all-powerful and worthy of our full attention and praise. His decision not to go with the Israelites was a blow to them. The Israelites knew it, and Moses knew it. But it was God’s decision to make. But God grants the favor for Moses! 

“And he said ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’” Exodus 33:14

Moses wants a little insurance to the deal. 

“And he said to him, ‘If you presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?’” Exodus 33:15-16

Moses is saying, I don’t want to go anywhere without you Lord! Please don’t make me!

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.’” Exodus 33:17

Moses knew God well enough to ask Him a favor. God didn’t have to grant it. He did so because Moses walked with Him and because Moses asked. Have you ever asked God for a favor? I have and the key is to know that God has the knowledge, the power and the sovereignty to grant or not grant your favor. In this case He did grant it. I had a recent event that I needed God to move in, I asked Him for a favor to let me see movement before the week’s end. I can’t say that the matter is resolved, but God did allow me to see movement by that week’s end. And I was very grateful and told Him so. The key is to know that God may or may not grant your favor when you ask Him, but when He does it is so sweet. Be sure you say thank you! 

May God grant your favors as He did with Moses!

We all know the story of Noah building an ark and taking two of every kind of animal on it and his family and getting on the ark while the Lord flooded the whole earth and wiped out mankind. But why Noah? 

“But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” Genesis 6:8

Noah lived during a time when men lived a very long time. Men had begun to multiply and while the numbers of people were growing there was also corruption and wickedness. Men were doing whatever they pleased and the Lord was grieved by it. But Noah, he was different. 

“These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.” Genesis 6:9

I knew that God had chosen Noah to build the ark and to take his family and the animals on the ark in order to preserve mankind. And I knew that it was because the world was a corrupt place. But I guess reading it here today puts a new perspective on it, maybe because of the times that we live in. I am sure other people have said it before, but I do think that the last few years we have seen an increase in corruption in our world. People pretty much want to live however they want to and they want to ignore and even deny that God exists. I guess living in the world today and trying to walk with God, makes me identify a little closer to Noah and the fact that he walked with God even in the midst of the corruption surrounding him. So much so that God chose Noah to repopulate the earth. 

Now I wonder what kind of things went through Noah’s mind in the year he spent closed up in the ark. First let’s think about being in a closed up area, with a bunch of animals. The only living people are your family. There are things to do every day like clean up after the animals, feed the animals, clean up after the animals. I can only imagine the way the place began to smell. I am sure it was dark in the boat. And there was probably a lot of noise. For forty days and nights of being cooped up in the boat you could hear the rain beating down on the boat. I wonder if in the middle of the dark, dank, smelly days of being on the ark if Noah felt favored by God? Oh we know he was because the alternative that the people on the outside of the ark was death and destruction. But I just bet being in the middle of it did not feel like very favorable conditions. 

My point here is this, well actually I have a couple. First, let’s realize that Noah’s living conditions before the ark may not have been great. It’s hard sometimes to be the only person in your workplace, or your circle or maybe even your family that is walking with God. But Noah found favor with God because he walked with God, he held fast to his faith. Even in the midst of corruption. Even in the midst of a rebellious bunch of people Noah walked with God and he found favor with God. 

Second, even though Noah found favor with God, he still had work to do. He built the ark and then he and his family still spent a year of their life floating along on a boat with a bunch of smelly animals. They worked out their faith that God had a plan to get them off the boat while in dark, probably not the most comfortable conditions. Just because your circumstances and your surroundings may be dark and smelly and you feel like they are droning on and on, you still may be just where God wants you for the moment. Our job is to walk it out with Him. To be set apart, like Noah was among rebellious people. To do the work that God has put in front of us, even if it is not the most desirable work. And to have faith that the sun is going to come out one day and we will be able to get off the boat. 

“Then God said to Noah, ‘Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.’” Genesis 8:15

“And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.’” Genesis 9:1

God found one good man who was walking with him, among all the corruption of the earth. I don’t know about you, but I for one, when God looks and sees the corruption surrounding us now, I hope that He can look at me and smile and that I can find favor with Him just because I am trying every day to walk with Him! 

May His favor be upon you as it was with Noah! 

The first story on favor that I want to study is in the book of Genesis and it covers several chapters. It’s about a young man named Joseph, one of Jacob’s sons by his wife, Rachel, whom he loved very much. The part of Joseph’s story we will look at starts in chapter 37 and goes through chapter 42. Joseph was a young man of seventeen. You know how young men of seventeen can be, a little cocky and quite proud of themselves. Everything can be wrapped up in their looks and their abilities. When I read this story of Joseph and how his father favored him over all his brothers I can just see this young man strutting around taking full advantage of the favoritism shown him. And that is pretty much what he did when he told his brothers about this dream he had where they would bow down to him one day. His father rebuked him for the dream but he still kept it in mind, maybe because he saw something in Joseph that behind the facade Joseph’s brothers couldn’t see. (Genesis 37:10-11)

But this is where the story in my opinion really begins. God gave Joseph the dream that would one day come true but I wonder if it ever crossed Joseph’s mind the path he would have to take to get there. I am often astounded at how even cocky little Joseph kept his integrity while all the wrong things were happening to him. First his brothers sold him into slavery. But, Joseph became a slave in Potiphar’s house and he rose in the ranks among the slaves and Potiphar put him in charge of his entire household. 

“Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.” Genesis 39:4

Then Joseph was accused of rape by Potiphar’s wife and he was thrown in prison. 

“But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success at whatever he did.” Genesis 39:20-23

While in prison Joseph interpreted a couple of dreams for a cupbearer and a baker of Pharaoh. Joseph interpreted in these dreams that the cupbearer would be restored to his position and that things wouldn’t go quite as well for the baker. Joseph asked the cupbearer to remember him when he was restored to his position. Well, as people will sometimes do, the cupbearer forgot all about Joseph when he got out of prison for another 2 years, until Pharaoh had a dream and needed someone to interpret it. So the timing was right for Joseph and he was brought before Pharaoh to interpret his dreams and when he did, Pharaoh elevated him to be in charge of the land of Egypt. And eventually, Joseph’s own brothers have to come to Joseph to buy grain. And look at this verse. 

“Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the person who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.” Genesis 42:6

Remember the original dream? I bet it’s the first thing Joseph thought of when he saw his brothers and they were bowing down to him. You can also keep reading and see how Joseph wasn’t bitter with his brothers, but he wept at the sight of them and hearing them talk about him. 

Now I have given a brief synopsis of this story but it’s definitely worth a full read. The encouraging thing in this story is how the Lord was with Joseph even in harsh circumstances. I am sure when Joseph had his original dream he had no idea of his path. What path do you find yourself on right now that doesn’t feel right? I know I have found myself on some pathways that I did not think would be where I would end up. But I know that even when I find myself on those paths that the Lord is with me. And I pray that His favor will be with me even on those paths. I can look back and see where He has been.

I love this story of Joseph because it is definitely one that even while things were falling apart they were really falling into place. Joseph was sold into slavery, accused of rape, thrown into prison and yet you can see all through it, the Lord’s hand on his life, yes even in slavery and even in false accusations and even in prison. To me it’s very encouraging if when you read it you see how Joseph found favor with God, and kept his integrity even when things were falling apart only to be brought full circle to his original dream that God had given him of his brothers bowing down to him. Oh Lord help us to see that even when things seem to be falling apart around us, they just might be falling into place.

May His favor be upon you as it was with Joseph! 

We have talked about the promises of God for the last four weeks. We talked about some unconditional promises of God and some conditional promises of God. God gave us some promises that require nothing from us and He gave us some promises that require something from us. But for the next couple of weeks I want to explore favor. What is favor from God and how do we get it? 

First let’s look at the definition of favor. Webster defines it as 1. a kind or helpful act that you do for someone, 2. approval, support or popularity, 3. preference for one person, group over another. 

So if this is the secular definition of favor what does it mean to have God’s favor and is it even possible? Should we seek God’s favor? Should we even think we are worthy of it? There are people in the Bible that God showed favor to and I do think we can seek HIs favor and even ask Him for it. And sometimes I think it is ok to pray for a favor from God. To ask His favor to be upon you in certain circumstances and circles. But like the conditional promises of God, we also have a responsibility when it comes to favor. When we ask God for favor in a situation or if we are asking for a specific request we can come boldly to His thrown to ask but we also need to look at our hearts and our spirit. 

“These are the ones I look on with favor; those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.” Isaiah 66:2 (NIV)

I have been that person who wanted God to give me what I wanted and to allow me to serve Him how I wanted to serve Him and to be the person I wanted to be. And I have been that person, who knew that the grace He has upon my life is underserving and that I could not get out of bed every morning if not for Him. This verse is real to me and it gives me hope that maybe I can find favor with God. I want to be that person who comes boldly to His throne but all the while knowing I don’t deserve to. That’s what I think this verse is saying that God will look on with favor the person who knows they don’t deserve what He has already given us. I believe that God wants to give us favor. I love the way the Message puts it. 

“But there is something I’m looking for: a person simple and plain reverently responsive to what I say.” Isaiah 66:2 (MSG) 

That’s who I want to be and who I want others to see me as. I am just a simple and plain woman who loves God with all her heart and I pray that His favor will be upon me and my family, but I want to reverently respond to what He has to say. 

How do we find that balance? Well first I think it is attitude of the heart. I think we come boldly to Him because of what He did for us not because of who we are. We accept His grace and we seek to live a righteous life because of Him. We realize who we were before we were covered by His blood. And then we know the difference between praying for the promises of God to be upon our lives and His favor on our lives. There are things that He has promised us like direction, wisdom, provision and there are things that we can pray for in favor that, when it comes down to it, God knows the big picture and we may or may not get those things. We have to know at the end of the day He knows and He wants what is best and we trust Him to know best. In the next couple of weeks I will be studying people who God showed favor to as well as people who asked God for something and they didn’t get it and how they responded to that. If you so desire, I hope you will join me. 

May His favor be upon us as we study! 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

In this promise Solomon was advising his son to put His trust in the LORD. Solomon had found that God is worthy of our trust. In my reading I found that the word that trust is translated from here means literally ‘to lie helpless, facedown.’ This trust is not to be taken lightly. This is a knowing that only God can direct the next step of your life and it work out the right way. It is completely letting go and letting God direct you! And the only way to trust like this is with all your heart! It is complete total dependence on God in a situation, crisis or circumstance. Or even in the day to day, mundane, little decisions in life. 

Have you ever had a decision where you just simply came to end of yourself and finally you had no other choice but to trust God? Where you were at the point of helpless and even if you weren’t you may as well be lying facedown. I have had a few times like that in recent years. I am not sure why us humans can’t seem to decide to trust Him before we get to that place. I think I am better at it today than I was when circumstances forced me to it. At least I hope I am. I can tell you, He has carried me through so much stuff of life that I do trust Him with all my heart. And I have learned or at least am learning daily to not lean on my own understanding. I have at times in my prayers prayed specifically for a situation that when it worked out specifically the way I prayed, looking back I am not always sure it was the best way. I am learning to pray more for God to just continue working in my circumstances and for me not to give Him the directive. Because when I do that, when I trust Him to work it all out and yes, I do have to remind myself, not to give the directives, (Lord, I think it should look like this or that) then I am in awe of the way it works out. So sometimes when I am praying my prayer just becomes: “And Lord, that thing I’ve been asking you about, Carry on Lord, just carry on!”

I hope I live my life in a way that acknowledges Him. I try to. I fall and fail many times every day I am sure of it. But I do truly believe that when we do live our life for Him that He is working in our lives and all we have to do many times is open our eyes to see it. Most of the time I can see His hand guiding me or my situation or circumstances. But there are times when I may feel that I haven’t seen it. When I feel that way, I simply ask Him, “Lord I want to trust you in this and I want to see Your hand, please show me.” And usually, something will happen that I do see Him. 

“And He will make straight your paths.” Now I know that my ability to put my trust in Him now to this extent comes from years of following Him and watching Him work. I have many stories of how the Lord guided me and some of those times, I couldn’t see the hand of God in my day to day circumstances until I was in the looking back stage. You know what they say Hindsight is 20/20. It’s true. I’ll give you one example here. Once I was working in a school, and quite frankly I was in a job I was not enjoying very much. I loved the place I was working but the job I had didn’t pay much and it was constantly just busy and I never felt I accomplished much. Well another job came available there and I put in for it and truly my boss gave me encouragement. But someone else put in for it that actually had experience in that type of job and well she got the job. I was hurt, and yes a lot pouty over it. I was like “Lord, I prayed for this and didn’t get it, and my feelings are hurt.” Less than a year later, another job came open that actually did match my skill set more and you know what, it actually paid more than the first job that had come available. It also set me on a path to grow in my skills and given me the experience I needed for many jobs over the years. I truthfully did not do a very good job in the trust department back then, but he still made a straight path for me. In spite of me. But it definitely taught me better how to lay my trust down to Him. 

I am going to put the Passion Translation here. I love it’s simplicity. 

“Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on him to guide you, and he will lead you in every decision you make. Become intimate with him in whatever you do, and he will lead you wherever you go.” Proverbs 3:5-6 TPT

Are you having trouble trusting Him? Ask Him to help you trust. Are you trying to give God your opinion of how it should work out? It’s best not to rely on our own opinions, we can’t see the big picture. Ask Him to guide you in your decisions. I love that this version says “become intimate with Him.” The more you seek Him, the more you will know Him, and the more you know Him, the more you will trust Him. And He will guide you and lead you in wherever you go!  He promises that! 

“Honor your father and mother (this is the first commandment with a promise), that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Ephesians 6:2-3

When Paul quotes this commandment in Ephesians he is teaching the Ephesians about relationships most notably the relationship children should have with their parents. He starts off with verse 1. 

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” Ephesians 6:1 

Children are to obey their parents. But children have to be taught obedience. When you see a newborn baby it is hard to believe that he or she will ever have a sinful nature. They are sweet and precious. But before that child gets to be two years old the sinful natures come out naturally. We don’t have to be taught how to be selfish do we? When the child learns the word “mine” we can see that sinful nature begin to play out. Children have to be taught obedience. They have to be taught how to share and how to control themselves when they don’t get what they want. This is the parent’s job to teach obedience. The command sounds so simple but it takes work on behalf of the parents to teach the children how to obey. 

The next verse, our focus verse is really talking about adult children. As children grow into adulthood, obedience to their parents changes to honor. We are to honor our father and mother and this comes with a promise of a good and prosperous life. Paul is quoting this verse from the ten commandments, the commandments that God gave to Moses to give to the Israelites. The first four commandments all point to God, but this one the fifth commandment begins the shift in how to treat other people, starting with parents. But it also comes with a promise from God that when we follow this commandment we will have a good life and a long life. For that reason the honor we give our father and mother can be looked at as a duty toward God more than people. 

Honoring your father and mother can look many different ways. It can be how we speak to them. It can mean speaking to them at all. You may have parents in nursing care and you have to visit them now. Those visits are a good way to honor them. It can be calling them, just to check on them. It can mean not forgetting them on holidays and significant events. And it can also just mean praying for them and if they are not with you anymore just speaking highly of them. You want to be sure that one day when they are gone, you can say you loved them well. 

Now I hesitated to talk about this verse because I know many good people who did not get the opportunity to live a long life here on earth. And that bothers me. I know a lot of parents who have had to bury their children and these children were not dishonoring to their parents. This is one of those questions I think I will have ready when I get to heaven to ask God about. But what I do think is that there are blessings that come when we treat our parents with honor and respect. That when we reach adulthood there are still ways that you speak to them and treat them that will bring about blessings from God.

Now I do want to go further here to mention that Paul does go on to talk about how parents have to raise their children. 

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4

We have all seen the news and seen parents who were abusive and did not deserve the place of honor and respect from their children. But this commandment does not say honor your father and mother if they deserve it. It says honor them. Period.  The truth is we do live in a fallen and sinful world. But as christians we have to do our part to do what God’s word says. 

I don’t have the opportunity to honor my parents with a phone call or a visit anymore. But I can tell you this, they were not perfect people but I am grateful that God gave me to them. They loved me and they did the best that they knew how. I regret the times I maybe didn’t show them honor and I ask God to forgive me for those times. I pray that when all is said and done that I loved them well. 

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

This is one of everyone’s favorite promises from God. Because we use it as a way to convince ourselves that we can have whatever we want from God. Right? But there is so much more to this promise than first glance. This is not just a cookie cutter way of getting what we want from God. First let’s look at the verses surrounding. 

“Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” Psalm 37-3-5

First let’s look at our requirements here. The first one is TRUST in the Lord. We, as Christians say we trust in the Lord. But when it comes down to it do we? Are we really trusting Him with our lives when we don’t consult with Him on what we should do next? For instance, we have that job in front of us, that looks like the answer to all of our financial worries. But have we consulted with Him on whether it’s really where He wants us or not? Are we trusting Him with our purposes and our finances and our families? It’s easy to say sometimes but because we are humans who like to think we are in control, sometimes it’s hard to do. Ask yourself what are you not trusting Him with? Are you laying your worries down to Him and picking them back up as the day goes. (This is my biggest problem.) We are told here to Trust Him. 

Then we are to do good, dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. What this means is simply to do what is right. Let’s be the example of right living and living out our faith to our fellow man. Right living is simply being kind and speaking truth and fighting the negativity around us with kindness. We could say this is hard to do to, but it’s us who makes it hard. It’s all about living intentionally. First and foremost just be nice to other people, regardless of their beliefs, their political alignment. They don’t have to think like us for us to be an example of kindness. Whether we agree with them or not, we can still be kind and be a light to the dark world we live in.

Then DELIGHT yourself in the Lord! What does that mean? To me it means looking forward to my time that I spend with Him. I struggle with distractions during my quiet time and I don’t know why because I love God’s word and I love when I have heard from Him and I know He is working things out for me! But I am human and if I am not careful I will find my mind wandering off on a tangent when I am right in the middle of my time with the Lord. I think the Lord loves it when we give Him our full attention! Not because He needs it but because He wants it! 

And this is the cool thing when we have done the things above He will give us the desires of our heart. You know why? It’s because when we are living intentionally for Him, and doing our best to shine His light to a dark world and delighting in spending time with Him, His desires become our desires! We will find that over time, we have begun to think more kingdom minded thoughts and desire more kingdom minded things, and then yes, we find that He gives us what we desire. 

I love the last verse of our little passage. 

“Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him and He will act.” Ps 37:5

It sounds simple and in a way it really is. We just commit to Him and He will act on our behalf. 

I love the way this passage reads in The Passion Translation. It has a great way of taking these verses and breaking them down for us. 

“Keep trusting in the Lord and do what is right in his eyes. Fix your heart on the promises of God, and you will dwell in the land, feasting on his faithfulness. Find your delight and true pleasure in Yahweh, and he will give you what you desire the most. Give God the right to direct your life, and as you trust him along the way, you’ll find he pulled it off perfectly!” Psalm 37:3-5 TPT

Just keep delighting in Him, keep laying your thoughts and worries and requests down to Him and trust Him along the way. He can pull it off perfectly!