For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord.”- Proverbs 8:35 KJV
The writer in Proverbs is referring to wisdom when he says findeth me. Wisdom is the leading character. Favor is the by-product of wisdom. When you walk into wisdom you walk out of foolishness.
But I pray to you, Lord, in the time of your favor; in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure salvation.”–Psalms 69:13 NIV
Wisdom and favor are connected.
“And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. Grace means favor. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”-Luke 2:40, 52 KJV
Four things that come with wisdom are:
1.Good Judgement
2. Strong character
3. It brings honor
4. Grows influence
But I pray to you, Lord, in the time of your favor; in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure salvation.” – Psalms 69:13 NIV
We can receive salvation but not know how to operate in wisdom.
There are politicians that don’t use wisdom in what they say and can lose favor with the public.
Favor – gives you special benefits. Favor is a benefit of salvation. Before most people take a job they want to know the benefits. The benefits are an extra. Some jobs only pay you by the hour but you don’t get any benefits.
When you are in High School you are not concerned about benefits. You just want a job. As you grow older, you want to know what the benefits are before you take the job. Will you get insurance, retirement, sick leave, vacation leave, as well as inclement weather time?
Most of these benefits cease when you end your employment.
My mother-in-law will be 81 in a few months. She retired from the Federal government in July of 2020. She worked there for over 25 years with no benefits. She was offered a job there with benefits but they were not of value to her. The conditions, salary and the hours of the job appealed to her more than the benefits. Her position gave her some favor so she rolled out of bed and left for work before 5:00 in the morning. She drove 30 minutes to work to get there 30 minutes early.
When they called her in, 99% of the time she went. She was usually not feeling well if she didn’t go. Guess what? She has obtained favor on her job with her boss and others because they could depend on her. She didn’t abuse her favor. Some weeks she didn’t work and others she worked five days a week. When she left her job, she lost her parking spot, salary, and authority. Sometimes, God no longer favors us because of our behavior, but we can get it back if we repent.
But For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”–Psalms 30:5 NIV
Walking in the favor of the Lord gives us the benefit of Long life. God said with long life, He will satisfy us and show us His salvation. Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.”— Psalms 68:19 KJV
The God of our salvation lavishes us with His benefits daily. These benefits are so many that it is hard to count the favor, peace, joy, mercy, healing, patience, long life, protection, deliverance, self control, prosperity, righteousness, and victory.
In reference to long life, see the following Scripture:
“And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died. And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.”–Genesis 5:20-21, 23-24 KJV
God didn’t allow Enoch to taste death. He walked right out of the earth into heaven. He didn’t even have the Holy Spirit inside of him.
These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.”–Genesis 6:9 KJV
Noah walked in the favor of God. The word says that God rains on the just as well as the unjust. When it rains, we have a shelter that we can run to. The Lord will hide us in His secret place. Noah and his family were protected from the rain. It’s evident they walked in favor.
Joseph walked in favor with God as well as with his dad. When you walk in favor everyone will not be happy for you. Every time they looked at his coat, they saw the mantle on Joseph. Some people will try to extinguish your fire just as Joseph’s brothers did. He was thrown in a pit, sold into slavery, lied on, and thrown into prison. Despite this adversity, he was favored on his journey. He was named second in command. Abraham was told to walk out of the place he lived. He didn’t have a GPS nor a phone. He walked out his faith.
He saw the favor of God in his life. Through his walk with God, he found wisdom as well as favor.
Lot recognized that Abraham was blessed and he had influence on his life. He followed for the blessing and the favor Abraham had on his life. People will leave a church that God has sent them to follow someone who seems to have more favor just to get the blessing. They might see more of the gifts flowing through them. God doesn’t want us connecting to a person just because of the gifts.
Abraham took Lot with him, but Lot wanted the best land, not realizing that it didn’t matter if Abraham was in a desert; he walked with a God that could make streams in a desert. We are to connect with the giver of the gift.
Abraham was blessed with a child at 100 years old. The thing that was dead in his life and Sarah’s life came alive and Issac was produced. We still remember him and honor him as the Father of Faith. This favor lasted a lifetime.
Another person that I want to mention is Naomi in The Book of Ruth.
Naomi found herself in Moab after the death of her husband. They were there due to a famine. Her two sons had married women in Moab as well as her sons had died. She had two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Oprah. She decided to return to Judah. She told Ruth and Ophra to remain in Moab. She told them she was not able to have any more sons for them to marry. Oprah stayed and Ruth clung to Naomi. She was clinging to wisdom, favor, and the God that Naomi walked with. They went back to Judah.
There Naomi set Ruth up to be found by Boaz, a rich man who redeemed her. She found favor with him. It lasted for a lifetime in her life as well as our life. King David of Israel was her great great great grandson and through this linage came Jesus.
Jesus even grew in favor while he was here. Jesus told his disciples to go into all the world sharing wisdom, favor, and bring this gospel of salvation. There is a worldly song that the millennials know called “Walk it out.” I have heard it at games and receptions. I never knew the words so I looked it up. It said, “East coast walk it out; west, south, and north.
I challenge you to walk it out. What is the” it” in this song? The “it” is wisdom and favor.
Prophetess Lenita Akles is married to Dennis. They have three children and two grandsons. Together they attend Kingdom Place Ministries. Prophetess Lenita Akles works as a Registered Nurse and hospital chaplain.
