176. FAVOURITISM COMES FROM MAN BUT FAVOUR COMES FROM GOD

FAVOURITISM comes from man but FAVOUR comes from God. God’s Kingdom principles are so different from this natural world, that the least favourite among men, could be the most favoured of God.

Ask David.

As the last of all his brothers and the one designated the lowly responsibility of attending to the sheep, he wasn’t even invited by Jesse to the meeting called by Samuel the Prophet, although Samuel had clearly instructed, that all of Jesse’s sons were required to attend.

He wasn’t considered as important enough to even warrant the time and effort. Surely, God would want nothing to do with him and have no business concerning him. After all, he was the least of Jesse’s sons. He was nothing more, in their eyes but a shepherd boy.

YET because man looks on the outside but God looks on the heart, David was the very one that God had his eyes on to be anointed to be king. He was the one that found favour in the eyes of God. The least favourite was the most favoured and quite frankly, when God favours you, what any man thinks becomes irrelevant because only God’s counsel will stand.

(SCRIPTURE: 1 Samuel 16:1-13)

Ask Joseph.

He can also attest to this fact. He was not a favourite of his brothers. In fact, except for Benjamin, they all hated him. YET, he was highly favoured of God and in the time appointed, God made him Second in Command over all of Egypt.

(SCRIPTURE: Genesis 37:5-36, 42:38-43)

(Written on 7th August, 2018)

ADDENDUM

Something came to my mind this morning and I want to share it here. It is one simple statement but it is profoundly true.

It is this: We would do well to remember, that POPULARITY & PRESTIGE do not necessarily equate to SPIRITUALITY & GOD’S FAVOUR.

How often do we tend to think, that the two go hand in hand. Yet, not necessarily.

Often times, we tend to think that if a person is popular, well-liked, greatly esteemed, in the limelight, influential and respected among peers, that this means that surely God is well-pleased with him or her, that that person has his favour in abundance and is super spiritual. We think that this is a life that we must emulate and that whatever he or she is doing, we should try to learn and also do, for surely this person is blessed of the Lord and highly favoured.

Yet, this may not necessarily be the case. In fact, sometimes, it is the exact opposite.

Sometimes, God is not well-pleased with such a person, what he or she does in the limelight is just for show, to be seen by others and to keep up appearances and although he or she has clearly found favour with man, he or she does not have much or any of it with the one that truly matters…. GOD.

Sometimes, it is the unpopular person, the person that is not liked, least esteemed and who people have long cast their noses down at and dismissed, that God draws close to and the one who finds favour in God’s eyes.

For, as God himself had to explain to Samuel the Prophet, who, although close to God, also fell into the trap of evaluating character wrong and esteeming someone as favoured, when God had rejected him: “For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

Food for thought.

(Addendum written on 26th October, 2021)

Dear Reader, if you found the above Article to be interesting, informative, edifying or beneficial, you may also be interested in reading the following under the ‘BIBLE-BELIEVING Daughters’ Page:

• Note 194 – ‘David, Eliab And Goliath’