9 Favor in the Middle of Trouble

9 Favor in the Middle of Trouble video and audio. (2,650 YouTube views). “THOU HAST GRANTED ME LIFE AND FAVOR, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit (Job 10:12). Job said he didn’t understand why this was going on and could not understand why trouble happened to him, but one thing he did know. Job knew divine favor was coming to him. Favor was on its way. Job spoke God’s favor in the middle of his mess. No wonder God’s favor restored double.

We have been talking about the favor of God and saw the more favor-minded we are, the more of God’s favor we receive. It’s because we are more confident and positive about life. Being “favor-minded” means being hardheaded concerning your expecting good things and speaking good things. You can have God’s favor in the middle of trouble.

FAVOR OF GOD
By Pastor Delbert Young

Favor in the Middle of Trouble

Audio

Favor in the Middle of Trouble

Scriptures: 1 Peter 1:13, Joel 3:10, Hebrews 11:1, Job 2:9-10, Job 10:12, Job 42:10, 12, Genesis 6:8, Zechariah 4:6-7, Ephesians 2:8

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Every day, we should expect God’s favor. We should expect to get breaks, expect to stand out in the crowd, and expect others to want to help us NOT BECAUSE OF WHO WE ARE, BUT BECAUSE OF WHOSE WE ARE. We are children of the Most High God and Father God wants his children to live with heads up, shoulders back, and confident. He wants to make their life easier and more enjoyable. That’s how you want your children to go through life. You don’t want them down and depressed. You don’t want to hear them continually talk negatively and be down. Certainly, you want them to experience good, enjoyable, easy lives.

Having the favor of God does not mean we will not experience challenges or are exempt from problems, and trouble. Adversities are a part of life, but when you walk in God’s favor in the middle of trouble, EVERY ADVERSITY CAN BE TURNED INTO VICTORY.

Today, I want to talk about expecting THE FAVOR OF GOD – Favor in the Middle of Trouble. When times get tough in your life, don’t get negative and say things like, “I’ll never get out of this mess. I must not have the favor of God Delbert talked about. I can’t believe this is happening to me.” You have to change your mindset.

1 Peter 1:13 So BRACE UP YOUR MINDS; be sober; SET YOUR HOPE WHOLLY AND UNCHANGEABLY on the GRACE (DIVINE FAVOR) THAT IS COMING TO YOU… (Amplified)

Notice that God’s DIVINE FAVOR IS COMING TO YOU. Divine favor is on its way, but we need to brace our minds and set our hope in a hardheaded (FAVOR-MINDED) totally unchangeable way until it gets here. This means with God’s favor in the middle of trouble, defeat and failure are no longer inevitable. In fact, it means you never lose. The favor of God will restore your marriage. The favor of God will help you break addictions, and the favor of God will bring your child back home and back to God.

I want to challenge you today to begin expecting God’s favor in the middle of trouble. Expect it with a hard-headed head FAVOR MINDED mindset especially favor in the MIDDLE OF TROUBLE. In the spiritual dimension, we prepare ourselves for adversity and trouble with our words. We declare what we expect to happen.

9 Favor in the Middle of Trouble

Joel 3:10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears: LET THE WEAK SAY, I AM STRONG.

There is a change of mindset from passive to battle. We sing, “Let the weak say I am strong. Let the poor say I am rich.” Those are not only words to a song. It’s battling trouble. If you are sick, you don’t stay passive. You beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears by declaring what you expect. If you are in financial problems, you beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears.

Stop allowing your mind to talk to you. Instead, you talk to it. Tell your mind, “I am strong in the Lord and in the power of his might” (Eph 6:10). “I financially prosper and I am in good health even as my soul prospers” (3Jn 1:2).

Some of you think your situation will not change or could never change. It’s been that way so long. You don’t see how you could ever get out of debt. You don’t see how your business could ever prosper. They say, “I’ll never get well.” Or, “I will never be loved or married.” The fact is one touch of God’s favor COMING TO YOU will turn it all around. In a split second, one touch of God’s favor in the Middle of trouble will turn any trouble into victory.

The scripture said to set your hope wholly and unchangeably. That means hardheadedly FAVOR MINDEDLY don’t give up. Don’t change no matter how bad the medical report, no matter how bad the debt, don’t change. You’ve got to expect divine favor is coming to you. It’s on the way. As long as you expect divine favor coming, hope is alive and you must have hope before you can have faith.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is BEING SURE OF WHAT WE HOPE FOR and certain of what we do not see.

You must BE SURE OF WHAT YOU HOPE FOR. Can you explain with certainty what YOU HOPE FOR? I don’t know how many times I have talked with people who felt they were experiencing the end of the world. They explain and relive with great faith all the details of failure. “This happened and that happened.” They get down and negative about people and life, and they blame this one and blame that one. Then they want me to pray about the horrid details, but if I can get them to stop talking about the problem and begin believing for God’s favor for the solution, things always change. In other words, when I get them SURE OF WHAT THEY HOPE FOR, faith comes, and when faith comes, God shows up with his favor. Divine favor is coming to you.

But it’s not easy to get people to get their hopes up, especially in the middle of trouble. The Bible tells about how hell was literally unleashed on a man named Job. Job went through every trouble you can imagine. He experienced trouble with his wealth. He experienced trouble in his family, and he experienced trouble in his health, even trouble with his closest friends. Here is what his wife said.

Job 2:9-10 His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.” But Job replied, “You TALK LIKE a GODLESS WOMAN. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So IN ALL THIS, Job SAID NOTHING WRONG. (NLT)

9 Favor in the Middle of Trouble

Job’s wife went very negative. She talked like a godless woman. Something we never speak about is, other than the physical ailments, she went through everything Job went through. However, she spoke godless words. God was not in her words. The NIV says,

Job 2:10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” IN ALL THIS, JOB DID NOT SIN IN WHAT HE SAID. (NIV)

Job was hardheaded – favor minded. Going negative is not of God. In fact, going negative, blaming God, blaming people, saying you never get a break, etc, is associated with sinning in what we say.

It’s difficult to watch your words when things are going crazy, but if we want to come out victorious, we must. Job experienced tremendous trouble with finances, family, and health. Yet, in the middle of trouble, when things were at their worst, we read…

Job 10:12 THOU HAST GRANTED ME LIFE AND FAVOUR, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.

Job said he didn’t understand why this was going on and could not understand why trouble happened to him, but one thing he did know. He said, “God you have always granted me your favor.” Job knew divine favor was coming to him. Favor was on its way. Job spoke God’s favor in the middle of his mess. No wonder God not only restored everything back to Job that the trouble took. God’s favor restored double. Job lived favor minded. You know you are favor-minded when in the midst of bad times, you know God’s favor is coming to you.

Job 42:10, 12 When Job prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes. In fact, the LORD GAVE HIM TWICE AS MUCH AS BEFORE! …So the LORD blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning.

Some of us are in a situation sort of like Job. Maybe your health, your marriage, children, finances, or occupation is experiencing trouble. It’s in those tough times, that we need to be especially watchful concerning our thoughts and our words. Instead of being negative, I’m asking you to reach way down deep inside like Job did. Don’t sin with your words. Thank God for life and his favor. Say, “Father God, you have always gotten me through trouble before. I know your favor is coming to me. I don’t understand any of this, but I do know your favor will not only get me through this, it will bring double blessings back to me.” If you will, God will show up with his favor. You will be twice as blessed coming out of adversities as you were when you went into it.

9 Favor in the Middle of Trouble

I want to make certain we see something. Another word for favor is grace.

Genesis 6:8 But Noah FOUND GRACE in the eyes of the LORD. (KJV)

The word translated grace is chen meaning graciousness, i.e. kindness, favor or objective. Here is how the NIV translates the same verse.

Genesis 6:8 But Noah FOUND FAVOR in the eyes of the LORD.

This is big to me. The favor of God will get you through, over, above, and beyond the floods of life. The entire world can be in an economic deluge of trouble, but God’s favor comes to you, you and your family are safe, above it, and will go through and beyond it.

Jesus linked his thought about speaking to a mountain from the experience of a leader named Zerubbabel who was facing a mountain of trouble.

Zechariah 4:6-7 …This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof WITH SHOUTINGS, CRYING, GRACE, GRACE UNTO IT.

“Grace, grace…” “Chen, chen…” “Favor, favor…” Stop talking ABOUT your mountains and talk TO your mountains. Speak to your mountain of trouble. Declare God’s grace and goodness. Zerubbabel’s mountain would become a plain. “Who are you trouble to stand before me? What do you think you are doing? You can’t defeat me.” That’s the attitude we need. It’s not by might or by power. Bring God’s favor into the middle of your trouble. Begin to declare the grace and favor of God to your mountain. Begin to expect your mountain to become a plain.

What mountain are you facing today? Marriage, work, health, family, education, finances… speak to it, “GRACE! GRACE!” “FAVOR! FAVOR!”

9 Favor in the Middle of Trouble

I want to end with one last thought for today. Remember, God’s grace and God’s favor are synonyms.

Ephesians 2:8 For by GRACE ARE YE SAVED through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God (KJV)

Ephesians 2:8 GOD SAVED YOU BY HIS SPECIAL FAVOR when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. (NLT)

If you received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, God’s special favor was given to you. You are a child of the Most High God. God loves you. If you will remain hardheadedly, favor-minded, unchangeable, his favor is coming to you. Do what Joel said and beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears by saying LET THE WEAK SAY, I AM STRONG. Declare what you expect to happen. Be like Job. Don’t sin with your mouth by going negative. Reach down deep and in the middle of your trouble, declare God’s favor.

Like Noah, allow the favor of God to raise you above every flood of life. Do what Zerubbabel did. Speak to your mountain by the Spirit of God. Declare it to be a plain. Remember, you are a child of the Most High God saved by God’s divine favor. That same favor will be there for you in the MIDDLE OF YOUR TROUBLE. Do it right and God will bring you out with twice the blessings and the rest of your life will be better than the first.