Year of Realization - Day 37: Favor can get you help from unlikely sources.

“Then the king asked her, “What do you want, Queen Esther? What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!””

‭‭Esther‬ ‭5‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT

How did Joseph climb the ladder to be second to Pharoah? How was baby Moses saved from death and ended up being adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter? How did the children of Israel leave Egypt carrying much of the wealth of their neighbors? How is it that Cyrus king of Persia paid for the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem? Now, in all of these instances, those who belonged to God were aided by their sometime enemy.

As we discussed yesterday the favor of the Lord can affect how people view you. Certainly, sometimes the favor of the Lord will make others actually hate you. But, it is not unusual for the Lord‘s favor to cause even those who would ordinarily be in an adversarial position against you to help you in some way. A story I’ve shared before is a perfect example of this phenomenon; so I will share it again here.

When my father and mother stepped out in faith to start their own church they ended up renting a storefront building. Well, as the time came for their lease to renew it was denied. You see, a liquor store wanted to move in to the same group of storefronts and there was an ordinance against liquor stores being within a certain distance of a church. So, the would be liquor store owners made the owner of the building we were in an offer he couldn’t refuse. Meanwhile, a competing liquor store sent a representative to my father who gave the money for the church to be able to move into a storefront building right across the street. And…this was a bigger building with better parking! Yes! God can use whoever and whatever He chooses to bless His people. And, in this case, it was the owner of a liquor store who thought he was doing a fast one on a would be competitor. What he didn’t know was that the Lord was using him to keep our church from having no place to go.

Yesterday we discussed how favor saved Esther‘s life. Today we see that the person who actually authorized the decree against the Jews is offering her everything.

We should never look at any situation and deem it one in which the Lord “cannot” help us. Remember this:

“When people’s lives please the Lord, even their enemies are at peace with them.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Now, how our enemies are at peace with us may not always look the way we think it will. They may not become our BFFs, but because of the Lord giving us favor, they may end up—sometimes inadvertently—helping us.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!

#yearofrealization