Highly Favored

Since I believe I am highly favored simply because I am a created child of God, (like the rest of you) wouldn’t it be a slap in the face to God if I lived as an outcast? In God’s eyes that must be like throwing a party, and finding that the guests aren’t willing to hike up the hillside to discover the magnificent spread you’ve prepared for them.

When you’re having one of those days when you feel rejected and snubbed by life, ask yourself who’s club you feel excluded from that you’re trying to join anyway. You have already been given the most significant placement you will ever hold. You’ve been invited to the best party in town, called life.

Scripture says that Mary was highly favored. I wonder how highly favored Mary felt when her parents and fiance questioned her purity and credibility? She wasn’t exactly receiving top honors in her club. God had given her the credentials, but no one seemed to recognize them. When the angel appeared to Joseph, attitudes shifted. Sometimes we respond like Joseph’s initial reaction, but we turn the suspicion upon ourselves.

Recently I heard someone say that you can imagine your life into a better place. There was a time when I would have instantly deleted that comment, because of its New Age sounding undertones. However, I now understand that Proverbs 23:7 says as a man “thinks within himself, so he is.” Boy is that true!

Our beliefs determine the kind of life we live. If you are unhappy with your life take a look at your beliefs. Your beliefs are the one thing that has the power to undermine your life. If I believe in my heart that I am not favored, imagine what will exist in my life. But if I am bold enough not to let my life be dictate to me by circumstances, but decide to believe or even try imagining at first that I am highly favored, who can stop me?

Read the words of John Ortberg on this topic from his book, The Life You’ve Always Wanted. “Cognitive psychologists remind us that always between the events that happen to us and our responses to them lie our beliefs or interpretations of those events.” The good news is that we don’t have to stay victim to bankrupt or misaligned beliefs, we can change our mind.

Mary might have initially felt like a victim. I certainly have. She had no say in her assignment, but she obviously soon realized that she was invited to a greater invitation, so she shifted her perspective. Is there an event in your life that has made you feel that you have been victimized? Could God be calling you to a higher perspective?