God's Presence & Favor Always - Part 1

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.  Psalm 139:7-10

In Hebrews 13:5, we’re told God’s presence in your life is a guaranteed constant. But you cannot evaluate God’s presence and His unmerited favor in your life based on your circumstances. To help you understand what this means, let’s look at the life of Joseph. Joseph refused the advances made by Potiphar’s wife, and as the common saying goes, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”.

She accused Joseph of attempting to rape her. She even took his garment as evidence against him. When Potiphar heard his wife telling her version of the story, he got angry and he sent for Joseph, stripped him from the place of authority he had given him and threw him into prison. Now, put yourself in Joseph’s shoes. What is happening here? It sounds all too familiar, doesn’t it?

With the painful memory of his brothers casting him into the pit still fresh in his mind, here he is once again, cast into a dungeon even though he was innocent. Any average person would be bitter and angry with God. Most people would ask, “Where is God? Why had God brought him this far, only to abandon and forsake him? How could this happen? Where is the justice against this false accusation?”

But Joseph was literally no “average Joe”. He knew that the Lord would never leave him nor forsake him. Joseph considered not his circumstances but kept his focus on the presence of the Lord. Regardless of whether he was a common slave, an overseer in Potiphar’s house, or now a prisoner facing the prospect of life imprisonment for a crime he did not even commit, Joseph did not evaluate God’s unmerited favor in his life based on his circumstances. Instead of getting bitter, he kept his hope in the Lord. Instead of throwing in the towel and giving up on God and on life, he kept his confidence, knowing that all his success was wrapped up in the presence of the Lord.

And did the Lord ever deliver him. I want you to read this story for yourself to see what the Lord did for Joseph: “But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.” (Genesis 39:21-23).

What does this tell you? If you refuse to bow to your circumstances and continue to be conscious of the Lord’s presence, wherever you are placed, whatever your environment, you will rise to prominence. You will have favor with your bosses and they will promote you. And whatever you do will prosper.

Remember our confession about the favor of God:
“The favor of God is on my life today. It’s putting me in the right place at the right time with the right individual.

The favor of God is opening doors and providing new opportunities for me each and every day.
The favor of God is producing in me now: Supernatural increase, promotion, restoration, increased assets, recognition, preferential treatment, petitions granted, policies and rules changed and battles won of which I do not have to fight. 
Thank you Jesus.