Finding Favor

“When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, ‘Woman, you are freed from your disability.’”—Luke 13:12

Each of us needs the favor of God. We need God in our corner if we are ever to get through life. But, because of our sinful condition—we are rebellious and attempt to thwart the very One we need. We want to be independent, to be captains of our own destiny, to live life as the determiners of our own fate, and live by our own rules. It’s hard not to. Our society exalts those who dare to live on the edge—who do whatever they want whenever they want. We immortalize celebrities, musicians, and athletes who died young—who tempted fate and died doing so. We prize them for their beauty and talent, not to mention that they went out doing what they loved to do. In our world, they are prized, but in the sight of God they are pitied, because as Jesus said, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”—Mark 8:36.

In an effort to seek immorality in this world they have forfeited their soul in the next. They were like Esau who sold his birthright for a meal, esteeming the success of man, failing to realize that what is “exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God”—Luke 16:15. We must jettison such thinking because it is worldly, worthless, and demonic. Any and all attempts to exalt ourselves in this world may find success, but it is only temporal and fleeting. What is famous now, will be forgotten later.

Instead, we must look to God and to Him alone. In Luke 13, we read the story of a woman who was subject to a “disabling spirit” which exhibited itself in keeping her unable to stand up straight for eighteen years. You can imagine how difficult it must have been for her. Nevertheless, she was a faithful synagogue attender and went one day to hear Jesus. One wonders how difficult it must have been for her to actually see Jesus—to have to tilt her head up or back to get a glimpse of Him. As she is in the synagogue Jesus sees her. And as soon as He does, He calls her over and heals her in the presence of everyone present. The part that fascinates me the most is the small little phrase, “Jesus saw her.” He saw her in all of her pain, sorrow, and shame. One wonders what she felt when His eyes met hers. Jesus called her to Himself out of the crowd. Why? What was He going to do? Walking by her friends, family, and other synagogue attendants undoubtedly gave rise to apprehension and uneasiness. But she came—and Jesus healed her, all because He saw her.

Do you know that Jesus sees you? That Jesus sees and knows everything you are going through? How many times have you felt like you were in a crowd and no one noticed you? How many times have you felt forgotten? How often have you felt that you are living a life of quiet desperation? Know that Jesus doesn’t forget you. He notices you. He loves you. He died for your sins so that you might trust and love Him.

He notices you because His favor rests upon you. God doesn’t favor you because of who you are, but because of who He is. God lavished His love upon us through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the reason that God favors you.

We are by nature God’s enemies (Romans 5:10), children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3), hating God and hating one another (Romans 1:30; Titus 3:3). It is only through Jesus that everything is reversed. God loves us so much that He gave His Son for us, and through our faith in Him, we enter into God’s favor. The problem is that most of us fail to respond to God’s favor made available to us through Him. We look to the things of this world, rather than in looking to the one who came into the world to die on our behalf.

Where are you seeking favor? From those of this world or from the one who loved this world so much that He gave His Son to die for it? Trust in Him, call out to Him, and come to Him when He calls. Know that He sees you in your situation and He is calling you to Himself. Amen.