SOAP Ezra 6: Favor

Favor

Ezra 6

So King Darius sent this message: “Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province west of the Euphrates River, and Shethar-bozenai, and your colleagues and other officials west of the Euphrates River—stay away from there!  Do not disturb the construction of the Temple of God. Let it be rebuilt on its original site, and do not hinder the governor of Judah and the elders of the Jews in their work. Moreover, I hereby decree that you are to help these elders of the Jews as they rebuild this Temple of God. You must pay the full construction costs, without delay, from my taxes collected in the province west of the Euphrates River so that the work will not be interrupted.”

Ezra 6:6-8 NLT

Then they celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days. There was great joy throughout the land because the Lord had caused the king of Assyria to be favorable to them, so that he helped them to rebuild the Temple of God, the God of Israel.

Ezra 6:22 NLT

Favor:  Could be defined as kindness, preference, approval or support.   In these scriptures, King Darius shows favor to Israel. It says that the Lord caused him to show favor.  

Favor can be tricky because we think of it through human understanding. I have favorite foods, I like certain people more than others, I have a preference for where I park, walk or eat.

I have read that: Favor is the grace of God in our lives. In fact, the Old Testament often uses favor and grace interchangeably. The definition of grace is the unmerited favor of God, and favor means acceptance, goodwill, and preferential treatment. So, we can't earn favor and are never entitled to it.

Also, the BIble says that God has no favorites,

Romans 2:11 NIV “ For God does not show favoritism.”

Favor is not earned, but it might be related to relationship.  If a close friend asked me for a favor, I would do it if I could, no matter what it is.  If a person I am not close to asks me for a favor, I might not respond the same way.  

God is full of compassion and mercy and it is in HIs nature to give favor.

It seems like we might get caught up in thinking we need to prove we are worth God’s favor, or earn it?  We can’t earn it, or “be good enough”. God has loved us even when we didn’t know who He was. Now that we know Him and have a relationship with Him, we can know how special we all are. We can walk in HIs favor!   We can ask Him anything and know He has good things for us.

Pray with me:

Jesus, thank you for your perfect love.  Every good and perfect gift comes from you. We are overwhelmed by your goodness. We can’t understand it. Help us know how cherished we are by you. Help us walk knowing that you want to give us good gifts, you want to show favor. Help us come to you boldly, like a child who trusts their father is on their side. You withhold no good thing.  

Amen