Seeking the Lord's Favor
When we need help, we go to another person and say, "Would you do me a favor?" We are not just asking for them to do something for us. We are seeing if they will be kind toward us and help us out, since we have a need. We are really seeking their favor more than asking for a favor. It is always very comforting to us when we know that we have the favor of another person, so that they care enough to give us their time and resources to help us out, and they do it in love. This is especially true when we seek favor from the Lord. King Jehoahaz found this out. He was an evil king of Israel, but when the affliction of the King of Aram was heavy on his people, he sought the Lord's favor. (II Kings 13:4) When he did, God heard him, because God was moved by the affliction He saw, even though He had allowed it to come, since Jehoahaz acted wickedly. We can call out to God like this today, too, and seek God's favor for a number of reasons.
There are some problems we couldn't solve on our own, no matter what we did. It is at those times that we need to seek the Lord's favor. We need to humbly ask the Lord to intervene, and when He sees our heart and the need, He is often moved to give us His favor and solve our problem. This is because of the great love and mercy of God. Even when we are not following Him as we should, if we are His children, God is inclined to give us His favor. This is especially true as we are dealing with other people. We can seek God's favor to work on the hearts of others, so they will listen to us and help us, even though they do not know us very well. I have seen this happen in my life and the life of our church, as we have had to deal with government officials. In fact, when we sought God's favor, He has led people to do things for us that others would think were impossible. That is why I say we all, as Christians, need to seek the Lord's favor on a regular basis. Then, our Loving Father can intervene in our lives to lighten our load and solve our problems.
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Tomorrow, I intend to read II Kings 14-16.