Favor's Effect!

But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Genesis 50:19-20 NIV)

This week in 5th grade Sunday School, we considered the life of Joseph, son of Jacob. His story spans 13 chapters in Genesis, and is quite difficult to cover in a thirty minute lesson. However, we did it; I simply asked the kids to share what they already knew about Joseph, and then we proceeded from that base of knowledge.

If you are at all familiar with Joseph's story, you know that he was a favored son of Jacob, Father of Israel. You know that Joseph wore a special coat-of-many-colors, signifying that he was favored by his father. His brothers sold Joseph into slavery, and Joseph became a slave of influential Potiphar in Egypt. Joseph was soon favored by Potiphar and became head of the official's household. After being falsely accused by Mrs. Potiphar, Joseph was throne into prison, only to again rise to the top as assistant to the prison guards. Many years later, Joseph was brought to the Pharoah to interpret his prophetic dream. Joseph's response was, "I cannot interpret your dream, but God will give Pharoah the answer that he desires." (Genesis 41:16)

Soon later, Joseph became second in charge of Egypt under the Pharoah's command. Joseph again rose to the top, filled with the favor of the LORD. We know the rest of the story, how that the nation of Israel was saved from the famine of that day by the brother that had years earlier been sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. The same brothers who hated Joseph were now indebted to him for their very lives. What they had meant for evil, God meant for good. That is how God's favor works sometimes. (Genesis 50:20)

The key is this: how do we live and walk in the favor of God? In Sunday School, I used a simple fishing bobber to illustrate the effect of God's favor. We submerged the bobber to the bottom of a tub of water, and lo and behold, the bobber "bobbed" to the top every time. Just like Joseph! Next I asked, "How does this bobber relate to the story of Joseph?" One young lady said, "Everytime something bad happened to Joseph, something much better happened to him." Exactly! Then a young fellow said, "Joseph must have been filled with God's holy righteousness!" We had learned earlier that righteousness is right-standing with God due to faith in God and His faithfulness. Joseph was a believer in God, and trusted that God would lift him up as he submitted to His will. Because of his right-standing with God, Joseph lived continually in the favor of God.

It is God's favor that brings the best from a bad situation. It is God's favor that turns evil to good. And, it is God's favor that allows us to venture out to make a difference in this world, because we may do so in confidence, knowing that we will always bob to the top, no matter how deep we find ourselves submerged. This is the amazing effect of the favor of God!

Allow the favor of God to follow you this week as you submit to His will and His instruction.