We have most likely sometimes wondered “how lucky” others always are and never ourselves. How,unlike us, they possess all those things that we consider a success; financial abundance, a great career, a great education, always profoundly happy even when they have so little, always being at the right place at the right time, and how they are in a great, blissful, relationship. Such thoughts can be depressing when we think that we are not as successful as others around us.
It might probably, however, be consoling to know that every person on earth has their own definition of success and prosperity. Some see success as having lots of money, for others it’s how powerful you are, for others prosperity is when they and their loved ones are healthy, for others it’s just being happy, and for others it is when their emotional needs are fulfilled.
Having said that, it may help to realize that where there is prosperity in all its presentations, it is more than just luck, it is something more divine ….. It is God’s favor. It is God shifting and arranging things in their favor. It is God fighting their battles, and making a way even where there seems no way. It is God moving the wrong people out and bringing the right people in. And that is why everything they touch becomes blessed. When they touch, God commands the blessing upon it, be it a person, thing or business.
When they touch a child, it is blessed; When they touch their piano, anointed music flows forth; When they touch their business, it prospers; when they touch a sick people, they get healed; when they touch those who are facing lack, their needs are met; when they touch their own careers, the careers grow by leaps and bounds.
The things they touch ‘obey them’ because they have obeyed God. God shows favor to the ones who delight in, connect with, and give honor to Him; and the success is God’s “tangible evidence that a person has the approval of the Lord”. They get God’s support, kindness, mercy, blessings, commendation, esteem, goodwill, kindness, benevolence, friendship and liking. They become, as is described in Psalms 1:3, “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. In all that they do, they prosper”.
One of the best examples of what happens when God confers favor and honor is Joseph. When God bestowed favor on Joseph, Genesis 39:2-6 tells us that he prospered, and he found favor in the eyes of his Egyptian master. This made him live in his master’s house and become his attendant. His master put him in charge of his household, and entrusted to his care everything he owned. This in turn resulted in the Lord blessing the household of the Egyptian master because of Joseph.
To receive the favor of God in our life, our heart, words, and actions must line up with the Word of God. In Deuteronomy 28:1-14, God promises us that “if we obey His voice, heed and carefully observe His commandments and walk in His ways, His blessings shall come upon us and overtake us; and the results of his favor on us will be that we shall not only be blessed in the city and in the country, but the fruit of our body shall be blessed, and so also shall be the produce of our ground and the increase of our livestock”.
Not only shall our barns and all what we touch be blessed, but we shall be blessed when we come in, and when we go out. Not only shall God cause our enemies to be defeated before our face, He shall also command the blessing on us in the land which He gives us. Not only shall He open to us the heavens to give rain to our land in its season, He shall also bless all the work of our hands.
But before we can receive God’s favor, there are three riders; first, God says that if we want to receive something, no matter what it is, the Biblical way to do this is to give it away. To receive His blessings we must also give the same. He says in Luke 6:38, “Give and it will be given back to you. If you give a little you’ll receive a little; if you give more, you’ll receive more”. Deuteronomy 28 tells us that when we lend, we shall not lack. We must be a blessing so that we’ll be blessed. If we need money, love, happiness, friendship, and blessings, we must impart the same to others. Our happiness lies in the happiness of other people. When we put a smile on someone’s face, we will also surely smile in due course.
Second, to receive Gods favor and get everything you touch to prosper, we must work hard. God does not condone laziness. He says in Proverbs 10:4, “Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth”.
And third, those who God favors suffer difficulties and hardships too; good examples include Noah, Moses, Daniel, and Mary. Those who are favored of God, however, know that God is with them and that nothing can happen to them apart from His good purpose. They have His ear as they walk through dark valleys and know that their struggle to remain true to Him will not go unrewarded. They know that when God favors them because of doing His will, He will not let them to fall, falter or fail; He shall give them wisdom and instruction to experience real joy and satisfaction and live each day totally renewed.
May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us (Psalm 90:17a), so that goodness and mercy may follow us all the days of our life (Psalm 23:6).