So I have something exciting to share with you… it turns out my husband is a lot wiser than I thought. Seriously no sarcasm intended… he is really wise. He has been writing this blog called ‘just a thought’ for a while now and each time he posts something I learn something… I think he is on to a winner… so if you are looking for some interesting thoughts… check his blog out… seriously do it… you won’t regret it.

Another wise man has been sharing some rather wise words in the form of a podcast I have been listening to this week. I have been listening to Steven Furtick speak at Life Church about the favour of God and what it means to walk in the favour of God. I have found it quite challenging, which was quite unexpected, because normally when I think of the Favour of God I think of it raining down blessings of all kinds. In fact, to be honest, I normally get a little sceptical when people start talking about the favour of God, because it makes me think of prosperity gospels and doing things so God gives you stuff, but usually it’s a feel good message so I gave it a crack. But that’s not what it is about at all… seriously the favour of God could not be further from that. Sure while you are walking in the favour of God you might get some good stuff, your blessings may increase but that’s not the point… the favour of God doesn’t mean favors from God… in fact Steven defined favour as:

The guarantee of His presence and the provision of His power to accomplish His special purpose, in and through my life.

Pretty cool ey? I really like it… The other thing that hit me was the attitude it should come with, Steven talked about the fact that lots of people walk around doing life and when bad stuff happens they say things like ‘that would only happen to me” or “that’s the story of my life” but if that’s the way we are thinking then we need to get a new writer/director… because our current is terrible! Instead we should be waking up in the morning saying “I wonder what blessings God is going to give me today” or “I wonder how I will see God working today”, we should have a grateful attitude as gratitude is the gateway to favour.

This really made me think, I have been guilty of having a ‘woe is me and my life’ frame of mind for probably a couple of years now, granted I have encountered some pretty life altering events and some of them haven’t been that awesome… in fact some of them have been less than average. But through this I have come to expect that I will always get the rough deal, that me, and my family are destined to have second best, to always be facing something bad and that when things are looking good for once, not to get too excited because it probably means that the next disaster is about to strike. This is a terrible way to live… and it doesn’t really scream hope, faith, love, grace and favour… in fact it pretty much says doubt. I know I have blogged about changing my attitude before and it probably seems like I just round in circles, which is probably true in many ways, but I think each time I go round I get a bit better at taking steps in the right direction. I need to start living like God likes me, like really does have something special for me to do, which he does, like he loves me and wants the best for me, which he does, like all things will work for good, for those who love the lord and are called according to his purpose, which I am and he will. I need to get thankful, like really thankful, not just for the big things, but for the little things too, in fact for everything (because he is worthy). I need to expect wonderful, powerful, amazing stuff all the time, I need to trust that even if I can’t see, I’m in his favour so I am safe, secure and heading in the right direction, and I need to do this consistently… I need to life the bar of expectation for my life… and when/if… no, when the bad stuff comes, be thankful for the people, the prayer, the power that I have been given to lift me out…

So one of the things I am going to do to help me be more consistent is get more thankful, like really thankful because I am and I should be! So one day each week I am going to stop and take a moment to post about the things I thankful for, it might just be a wordless Wednesday, or it might be a day of its own, perhaps marvelous Monday… Or something along those lines, either way, when ever it is it will be full of thanks, not just for big things but for all the small things too… I am going to share the favour that have received… And slowly but surely my attitude will change… I hope… but just to get me started, I super thankful for God’s beautiful earth… how’s this for favour…