The Favor of God

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:26-33).

Talk about disruption! Mary was betrothed to Joseph. She was so legally engaged to be married that in order to end this relationship a bill of divorce was required. We might imagine the wedding date was set and the invitations were in the mail! Then Gabriel showed up with a divinely different plan! Mary was disturbed by the angel’s message. She did not hide her fear. In recording Gabriel’s caring response to Mary’s obvious concern, Luke presents a striking contrast between the humble character of Mary and the grandeur of the divine plan that was about to unfold. What made all the difference and enabled and empowered a humble virgin to become the mother of a King was nothing less than the favor of God.

There is very encouraging truth here for humble, ordinary truth seekers like you and me. It’s not easy to believe God can use us in His divine work. The evidence of our fragile, mortal circumstances is always right before our eyes. The feebleness of our natural estate gets even more obvious in the light of the inspiring record of God’s supernatural work presented in the Bible. We do not deserve to be used by God in any significant way. But every now and then, the Holy Spirit confronts us with truth that breaks into our hearts and sets us free to believe in God’s supernatural possibilities. The compelling truth of Scripture inspires us to jump into God’s supernatural plan! The Spirit moved Luke to give us a revelation of such compelling truth. Mary was a virgin. She was engaged to be married. There was nothing in her life that qualified Mary or marked her as deserving a chance to be used by God. What changed Mary was the unmerited favor of God. It was the favor of God that confronted and dispelled her fear. The favor of God enabled her to see past the circumstances of her life and to grasp the possibility that God could empower her to be the mother of His Son. The favor of God would cover and take care of the people and circumstances that would be disturbed by the coming miracle. The Spirit asks us today, how might we be transformed by a better understanding of and a deeper longing for the favor of God?

God wants to include us in His supernatural, life-changing, and lasting work. He loves to use us in spite of ourselves. The Spirit teaches that God is looking for those who are wholeheartedly committed to Him so He can strengthen their hands… “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him” (2 Chronicles 16:9). God loves to add His favor to our feeble hands to empower us to do works that are established and lasting beyond ourselves… “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!” (Psalm 90:17). Paul called this favor of God that transformed his work into God’s work, grace… “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10). When ordinary folks like Mary, you, and I surrender to His call to become fully engaged in His supernatural work we become vessels of His grace and our work reflects the supernatural heart and power of our great God to the unbelieving world around us… “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). It is the grace, or the favor of God working in us that enables us to fulfill our highest calling, to bring glory to God.

As we grow up into Christ our humble lives are transformed to accomplish His great will through…

The Favor of God.