Truth Number Three:

You Have Favor with God and Man

When you have cracked the shell of your outer man and the Spirit of God breaks forth from your inner man, people can see the righteousness of Christ.  Psalm 5:12 says, “For surely , O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.”  When a relative dies in your family, what do people normally do?  They usually offer to do something for you, don’t they?  When someone is slowly dying in your family, others want to help you anyway they can.  People respond to physical death in a benevolent way.

It is the same in the spiritual sense.  When you set your heart on dying to yourself, God moves on you to do certain things.  He shares the love that can only come from Him to others around you and it makes people want to be benevolent and helpful.  It is the most amazing thing, the supernatural favor of God.  It can even be favor with someone you do not know or with someone who wouldn’t be compliant with you for a million dollars unless the love of God touched them.

When I was in ICU in Bakersfield after my accident, I was in that room where there were several beds in a circle, just like covered wagons in the old days.  There were teenagers, other children besides myself, and an elderly man who had suffered a stroke or a heart attack.  He motioned for my dad one day and out of the blue asked Daddy if he could do anything for us.  He wanted to know if daddy wanted a job.  In fact, daddy did need a job! He lost his job the day I got hurt.  But he had already decided that he would move us back to Virginia as soon as I was able to travel.  

Daddy asked the man why he would make such a generous offer.  This is basically what he said, “I have been laying here for days.  I have heard these kids get out of control, moaning in pain, and some have been cursing.  But your daughter, who is in far worse shape than these, has not complained one time.  There is a peace about her and it has been an inspiration and an encouragement to me.  I just wanted to say thank you.”

Ironically, I do not even remember this man or the time I spent in the ICU.  I had absolutely nothing to do with it.  Jesus had filled my vessel and while He was ministering peace to me, He was also ministering peace through me to others.

I thank God for that horse named Rowdy who God used to show me how He can take what the enemy meant for harm and turn it around for my good in so many ways.  I could tell you so many things that God did for me as a result of that accident.  Never, ever despise the circumstances in which you may find yourself.  God knows where you are and no matter how you got there, He can use it for a greater purpose.  In Job 5:18, God’s servant said, “For He wounds, but He also binds up.”  And He has done that for me far beyond what I could ask or imagine.