Why Men Are Not Seeing God's Favor In Their Life.
Most of us have been trained to work hard and be men who are never afraid to labor for our families. As honorable as that mindset is, most of us, however, have never been told to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all things will be added on to us. So why am I telling you this? The reason I'm telling you this is because it takes more than our worldly wisdom to experience God's best for our lives. The truth is, we need the Favor of God to experience God's best in every area of our life.
In this article, I'd like to focus on God's provision of favor to the married man, because He did set some special things in place just for us. We live in a culture today where men don't fear God. We live in a culture today where men don't believe in God. It is so unfortunate that we have been convinced by this world to isolate ourselves from our very own Father. The one who created us and already made provisions for us. Ephesians 1:3 says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. This is an exciting revelation because it tells us that we have already been provided for by God and it's only a matter of moving all of our spiritual blessings into our natural world. So how do we do this? How do we execute this transaction?
Proverbs 18:22 says he who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. This text tells us that God has already made special provisions for the man who is in covenant with him concerning his wife. That special provision is called favor. The definition of the word favor is an act of kindness beyond what is due or usual. It is not something you've earned on your merit. God wants to bless you in ways that will not be understood by most people observing your life. So, the bottom line here is that you are qualified for this special treatment because you meet His requirement of being married to a wife. Like unemployment benefits, however, it is not redeemed automatically. If you lose your job, you are eligible to receive unemployment benefits because you are a citizen, but it will be released when you go through the application process online or at the unemployment office.
Redeeming this favor is very similar. Let me take you to the word of God to bring this home. 1 Peter 3:7 says, Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. So even though you have favor according to Proverbs 18:22 you still need to follow God's protocol in 1 Peter 3:7 to redeem the favor. Living with understanding will require us to chase after the knowledge of our wives.
She has needs that we must be aware of, she has a personality type that we must learn to work with. Our wife has a specific way she views money that we need to understand. Our wife has sex needs that are very different from the sex needs of a man. She is also evolving as she goes through life and these are all things, we are expected to keep up with to live with her, with understanding. Your wife at twenty years old without children is a different person after having a child. She is also much different after dealing with aging parents. Husbands must maintain a humble approach in this area of living with understanding. God is saying that our refusal to comply with His rules concerning this will absolutely one hundred percent hinder our prayers.
Being heirs together of the grace of life is a great benefit of being in the kingdom of God. If we choose to work together and work with understanding we become qualified as heirs of God's kingdom. Heirs don't labor, they are provided for by the king because they are part of the royal family. They experience life at a different level because of their position in that family. Why not participate in something you've been given an invitation to?
My question to us all is, why leave all that favor on the table because of disobedience?
Why not set the tone for God to bless your life and family with favor beyond your wildest imagination? Why not take advantage of this opportunity to love your wife the way God originally intended for you to love her? Why not earn the respect of your wife and children because of your willingness to humble yourself before your heavenly father? Today I'm going to challenge you to trust God to be the difference maker in your situation. He promised that He would do it if you had the faith to allow it to happen.
Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
