Living in God's favor!

One of the key things I try to communicate on this blog is "here and now" benefits of being a Christian.  For a lot of people Heaven and Hell seem so far down the road that it doesn't seem all that real to some people.  I think it helps to show them what is in it for them in their lives right now if they follow Jesus. 

Or to put it another way, of what practical use is it to follow Jesus?

For me, one of the biggest benefits is living in God's favor.  What that means to me is how God can work even the littlest things out for me in my daily life with so little effort.  Let me give you an example from this past weekend.

I was doing a car project and I was stuck.  I couldn't connect the steering column to the steering knuckle.  I tried for about 45 minutes.  It was around 2:00 AM when I gave up. 

While I was under the car working I remember praying "Hey God, sure could use a little of your favor here if you got a minute.  Now was I disappointed that God didn't grant me that favor right then?  Not at all!  While I had total faith that He would grant me the help I was looking for I also know that it will happen in His time.  In other words God isn't just sitting there waiting to help just me.  He's a busy guy.

It was just really comforting to know that God would come through.  It was two days before I could get back out there and work on the car again.  The day in between God said to me "hey try those new extra long channel locks", and then God moved on.

But there I had it.  God's favor.  The next day I grabbed the channel locks, slide under the car and in less than two minutes I had the thing fixed!  Thank you God!

As heirs with Jesus, it sure is cool living in God's favor.  You should try it some time.  It starts with  inviting Jesus to guide your life.  Just have a conversation with Him.  "Dear Jesus…."