Jesus grew, he increased in the favour of God, which means we can grow in the favour of God and the favour of men per time.
Luke 2:52
The word increase in this context means to experience more of the favour of God, you can come to a point or season of your life that the favour of God and that which you get with men can increase, you can walk in greater dimensions of favour with God and men. But, you see one is a product of the other, in fact if God has not favoured you, no man’s heart will be stirred to favour you. Essentially, you can not walk in the favour of men outside the favour of God.
Psalm 44:3 “for they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword. Nor did their own arm save them, but it was your right arm, and the light of your countenance because you favoured them”.
In life, we can get things by struggle, effort or labor but you must also know the dimension of God, that’s not everything you labor or struggle to get but there is a dimension called “God factor”. God showing up for men and the favour of God working on their behalf.
If all your possession in life comes by struggle, then you don’t know the dimension of life called the favour of God. Dollar and Naira are both currencies but favour is a higher currency. What you may get by naira , someone can get it by favour, what you will save to get might be a gift to another person. Just open your heart, whether it comes by savings, labor or as a gift from God, we will all be alright. But, it will be irresponsible faith to say you are waiting for God when you are not putting in the effort or work required. Infact, the favour of God comes in while you are working. You can get into a dimension of life on the platform of favour.
The bible in psalm 44:3 says they didn’t gain possession by their sword or power but by God’s favour.
Psalm 89:17 “for you are the glory of their strength, and in your favour our horn is exalted.
Psalm 102:13 which says you will arise and have mercy on Zion for the time to favour her, yes the set time has come.
We are in a favour zone of God right now, in the timing of God, as a people and church we have come to a season in our lives, that we will get more than we have worked for. We will keep at it, we will keep working, we will not slow down but we will get more than we have worked for.
Zion is the place of God, the church of God and the people of God. We are in a time where we will see God working in our favour, stepping into the affairs of our lives, working in mysterious ways, taking over our issues. The set time has come. The favour of God is a currency. What the dollar and euro can buy, favour can deliver much more. The favour of God can change a man’s life.
We have explored the possibility of men of low status sitting with kings and queens as a result of mental growth, making men sit with policymakers, and being brought to the limelight. Now if that can happen, by human efforts, what can God not do? But some people do not have substance in their lives for God to show his favour, such that even if God wants to show his favour, he has nothing to amplify.
God has a way of amplifying the little efforts of man, but you have to make sure you are making great efforts as well. People have been deceived severally that they have little or no part to play in their becoming successful, that when they are asked about the progress of certain issues in their life they reply with ‘God is able, God will do it.’
There is a story of two friends who went to see a fortune teller, the fortune teller told one of them that he would become the next king after the death of the present king, and told the other that he would be a slave of all slaves.
So after the encounter with the fortune teller, one of them took out a chair and sat every day in front of his house compelling people to salute him as the next king, telling people that immediately the king dies, he will be the next king. Unfortunately, six years passed and the king didn’t die.
The other friend who was told he would be a slave, and who already resigned to the fate of being a slave decided to add some value to himself. He went out of that region and became a farmer, he grew and increased tremendously. Eventually, the king died. There was famine afterwards. There was no king, there was no food. So they were not only in need of food, they also needed a king. When they heard about the now-successful farmer, they met with him and negotiated with him. They requested that he give them food and in turn, become their king.
The one who was told that he would be king did not become a king, while the one who was told that he would die a slave, became the king. He had what the people needed so they made him king. No matter how great a prophecy is hanging over your head, you have to do what you can do.
No matter how great a prophecy or potential, there’s a dimension of God’s favour and dimension as an individual working towards the dreams and waiting for what only God can do.
While doing what you can do, do all that you can do – pressing, moving, growing and build your capacity, embracing the process while waiting for God. ‘
Position yourself waiting for what God can do while doing what you’re capable of doing.
Esther 2, we see how God favoured Esther. In Esther 2: 2, there was a vacancy in the kingdom…somebody that has no or low background can sit with kings – there are things God used to bring men to limelight, one of them is favour, another is the opportunity to embrace growth. The young woman in the passage with no father or mother was lovely and beautiful, from verse 8, they had a gathering of virgins and people showed interest and some were selected.
There’s a system of the world that grades and reduces a crowd to a sizable number and what was used to grade here, was stature and beauty.
Before you talk about favour, there are essential things to have before men can consider you into the cluster. The cluster can be big but the attributes of each person determines if they’d move to the next phase. From verse 9, Esther found favour in the sight of the eunuch and he readily gave beauty preparations to her – Esther gets much more than everyone one in the cluster gets.
She (Esther) got beside her allowance, maidservants and she was moved to the best place in the house of the women – Esther got special treatment. Beyond beauty, Esther was obedient, she had discretion and boundaries – she understood timing, accountability, mentorship and training. Esther embraced the advice and counsel of Mordecai. Verse 12, it’s not just about favour, there was a year of training, preparation, personal development and enhancement was involved to get ready to meet the king. They were taught royalty within the year of preparations.
Esther submitted herself to the process by doing what she was supposed to do. She did this by waiting on God. Esther participated in the transformation’s journey.
Esther stepped into the palace. The king had been seeing beautiful ladies at the time. However, there was something different about Esther. She stood with the custodian. The custodian knew what the king wanted.
Esther stepped in on the recommendation of the man that knew the king. She leveraged the insider information. She requested for nothing but the advise of the custodian. Before we see God’s favour, let’s see the journey. It may be possible that the king did not really like her but she has followed the process.
The king saw her and melted. The king saw her above every other virgin and she was placed on her royal crown. This was a woman that came from a low background and came from nothing.
This was a woman that had no mother and father. The same way wisdom and growth can make us sit with princes and princesses, favour of God can make us sit among men.
The same way wisdom, mental growth can bring us to the days we will remember we were in our low estate.
When we remember where God is bringing us to then we will know it can only by God. They did not do it by their strength, but by God. They said God did it. There are things that only God can do.
Do not let forget that mental growth too is also limited. There are people who are educated and bagged first class honours yet they are are nowhere to be found, they do not have a job.
Without God you can do nothing. Horses are meant for the days of battle. It is not him that runneth or willeth but God that showeth mercy.
Proverbs 21:31, Romans 9:16
Anybody that is telling us that prayer is not needed for us to be settled is playing foolery of himself. We should just pray that God should amplify our effort even while we do what we need to do.
Some people finished well in school but life is still the pursuit for them. They had all what it takes to do well but they are still finding it very hard.
It is by the mercy of the Lord God has brought us this far. Some of our mates are nowhere to be found and life has dealt with them.
We should see how far the Lord has brought us. We must be grateful. We are not where we should be. However, we are not where we used to be.
Favour has brought us this far. We have been taught that the favour of God can make men to favour us. How men has advanced in life by men favouring them. Even Jesus needed John the Baptist. He could not have introduced Himself.
John told them, “Behold the Lamb that takes away the sin of the whole world.”
John 1:29
John showed Jesus to the world. He saw him and immediately, he screamed behold the lamb. Jesus had not died but he called him the lamb. He introduced him and spoke of his mandate. Jesus couldn’t introduce himself. We should know at this point that no man can favour us outside what the Lord has done. God stirs their heart towards you. Whenever you receive anything it’s because that person is a giver not that he has surplus. It takes only God to stir the heart of a man to give.
When anyone gives you, then God sent him to you. The help you get from men is because God engineered it. You can always ask in prayer that God should finish his work in your life. There is nothing men cannot give you when you’re favoured.
The help a man enjoys is directly proportional to what God has brought him into. We should stop struggling to get the attention of men. It will lead to frustration. The hand that is not opened by God towards you, cannot open..