Isaiah 61 in my Bible is entitled, “The year of the Lord’s favor”.
This morning while having quiet time with Abba, I asked Him, “Did I lose Your favor somehow?” Immediately, I felt a warmth over my shoulders and the Presence of God filled my body and I heard Him say, “No, you are directly in the center of my favor right now.” I saw something that looked like a long tube that extended from heaven and came directly over me here on earth. I saw all the storms raging around me and it was then that I realized, He alone is the reason I’m not being overcome right now. He alone is holding me. He is my constant Companion. He has created a shield about me with that tube of favor extending down over and around me.
It’s the favor of God that has made finances that should have been used up by January, extend into February. It’s His favor that has left me with so much unnatural peace every single day. It’s His favor that has allowed me to continue to walk in joy with my family. It’s His favor that told me a few weeks ago that the enemy was attacking me. It’s His favor that has allowed me to feel full in this time of being stretched so thin. It’s His favor that wraps around every note I sing or play in worship right now. In fact, the second my fingers touch the piano right now, I immediately feel the strongest Presence of God.
I think we’ve made mistakes a lot in the past when looking at people’s situations and assessing them in our earthly way and with our finite minds.
Friends, I am living in the year of the Lord’s favor.
Prayer Moment: I challenge you today to reassess your life and current situation. Have you wrongly defined what favor looks like? One of the most impacting things someone told me once was this, “Lisa, you think (this person) has favor simply because they seem to get their way all the time. That’s not God’s favor.” That moment was well over a decade ago and still it took until just now for me to really see what God’s favor really looks like. Ask God to readjust your heart and mind to really see what His blessings are, and if you are indeed living in His favor this very moment, when you thought you were living outside of it. What a revelation. A walk with God is not all sunshine and rainbows, it’s character building and stretching because that’s how we discover more of Who He really is and it refines us so we can hold more of Him and be trusted. This is all worth it.
The spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me; because the Lord has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Aliens will shepherd your flocks, foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so, they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs. “For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.” I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seed to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations. Isaiah 61
365 Days in the Presence 