Year of Realization - Day 36: Favor can save you.

“So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter.”

‭‭Esther‬ ‭5‬:‭2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

On many occasions my father told a wonderful story of the Lord’s favor early on in his life. He was recently saved and was seeking the Lord for a good job. He had heard that the local steel mill was hiring. So, he set out on the word of the Lord to get a job at the steel mill. His unwavering faith was illustrated by the fact that he had his mother make him a lunch to eat at his new job. Then, he set out, holding onto nothing but a bag lunch and the word of the Lord.

As the story goes, when he got there he had been preceded by a long line of hopefuls. After waiting some length of time, the bossman stepped out of the building and raised three fingers, meaning that he only needed three workers. Remember, my father was standing toward the end of a very long line.

Well, sure enough, the bossman took the first two candidates in line, but then stopped. He then began to look all the way down the line; and when his eyes fell on my father, he pointed to him!

Wow! All he really needed was the Lord to give him favor in the eyes of the bossman. Of course, that bag lunch he was carrying also served to make it a great day!

Now, you might wonder why I said my father’s story was one of God‘s favor in his life. Yet, wasn’t it the bossman with whom he found favor? Well, the proverbial writer expresses it succinctly:

“The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it whichever way He wishes.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭21‬:‭1‬ ‭AMP‬‬

Yes, because of the Lord’s favor, my father found favor in the eyes of the bossman.

In today’s opening scripture we see that the king sees Esther standing in a forbidden place. But, when he sees her, all he can think of is how wonderful she is.

Now, in this case, favor literally saved Esther‘s physical life. But, isn’t it wonderful to know that through Jesus Christ we have been given a favor that will save our eternal life? And, now that we have His favor, we can boldly approach His throne!

“Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬ ‭AMP‬‬

Yes, as in the case of my father, and with Esther, and time and time again in my own life, God’s favor makes all the difference.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!

#yearofrealization