Minister: Pst Sunday Adebamiro
Topic: The Power of Favour
Text: Ruth 2:1-12 (NLT)
One of the first things I need to say is that although favour bridges gap and reclaims lost time and season, it doesn’t come to the indolent. You cannot fold your arms and expect favour. Favour can be attracted, favour can be activated by you doing your part. In our text, Ruth did not find favour with Boaz by being lazy, she was reported to be hard at work. You have to play your own role. In the first service we established that favour gives divine advantage. What do you do when you need something, and others need the same thing and it cannot go round? It is favour that can grant you a chance out of the many people competing for the same thing you desire. What favour does is to single you out of the many. It gives you an advantage of divine nature.
This means if you are not favoured or you do not carry the anointing for favour, you would have to resort mostly to ability. You will have to resort to efforts. It would be subject to many subjective things you may be unable to affect or influence. When you are not favoured or you carry favour, but it is not understood and activated, favour becomes inevitable. Favour is unfair in its nature. Favour comes with that challenge because it gives you what others want whether you deserve it or not.
You have to understand, no matter how gifted you are, someone is more gifted than you, no matter how intelligent you are, someone is more gifted that you. This is why the system of favour exists, to give you an edge you in instances you naturally may have been incapable of reaching for or achieving.
Favour gives speed. Ecclesiastes 9:11 says …time and chance happeneth to them all. If it is by speed, some people are faster than you, if it is by strength, some are stronger than you. You need favour to bridge these gaps. You need the speed favour can grant you to overtake. You can either use energy and efforts to achieve your aspirations or you can rely on the favour of God. We are not encouraging laziness or indolence, we are saying with your diligence, look to God for divine favour so that your effort will yield far better than it naturally can. It does not matter what you have lost, favour will return everything. Joel 2:25a (NLT)– The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts.
Favour gives access. It is the supernatural liking that gives access into relationship, resources and opportunities. This is why Ruth can move from being a field worker to being favoured by Boaz and becoming his wife. Exodus 3:21 (NKJV)- And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed. In this text, for years the Israelites had laboured unpaid for building the Egyptian cities, in one night, by divine favour which conferred diving liking on the Israelites, they were paid everything owed with interest. Luke 1:18-19 (NKJV), Luke 1:33-34 (NKJV). The same doubt exhibited by Zechariah, and he was punished did not attract same punishment when Virgin Mary questioned the angel when she was told she was going to have a child despite being a virgin. The difference was favour. We may be in same circumstance, but we do not carry the same favour anointing. It is favour, divine favour that sets one apart. You have to work with this consciousness.
