Have you ever felt favoured? I mean, have there been times in your life when you felt overly blessed? If so, why did you feel that way? Was it because something special had happened to you or you were going through a period of relative calm? What was it that triggered your thoughts to considering yourself doing well, perhaps better than a lot of others?
We often equate blessing with material possessions, good health, lack of stress and fun times, don’t we? Certainly these things can make life more enjoyable and we should be thankful when they come our way. But there’s a lot more to living than that because things don’t always appear to be going our way. There are lots of times when we get surprised with unexpected expenses, sickness and difficult situations that aren’t a lot of fun. Does this mean that we are no longer blessed? On the contrary.
I believe that it is possible to be in a position of blessing every day no matter what you are going through, pleasant or unpleasant. What makes that happen? It is experiencing the favour of God. It is being so close to God that you feel fully embraced by him and under his umbrella of care and provision regardless of your situation. It is living in the presence of God and seeing that as your greatest blessing.
This Sunday I will be speaking to you about Experiencing God’s Favour. I’d like you to read Exodus 32 & 33 over these next few days to prepare yourself to hear the message. Take note of the golden calf affair, God’s reaction, Moses’ intervention and the consequences of disobedience. Also notice the tent of meeting and Moses’ request of God for his own life in order to lead the Israelites for the long term. There’s lots of good stuff to consider.
Moses is an example of someone who experienced God’s favour, while the Israelites did so at times and at other times were nowhere close to doing so. Why was that? What was the difference? What do you see in Moses that was often missing in the Israelites? What principles can we learn from Moses to apply to our own lives on a daily basis? Is it possible to be as intimate with God as Moses was? What would that look like in your life every day?
I’m looking forward to meeting with you for worship this weekend and going deeper in what it means to experience God’s favour. Remember, Anthony Pennings will be here as well, giving us an update on the great work that he and Barbara are doing on Manitoulin Island. They are part of our Freedom family and we are honoured to be able to support them with encouraging words, prayer and finances.
See you Sunday…..
Pastor Del