Forced Favour

Isaiah 49:²⁵ “Eternal One: Hard to believe, but it shall be so. The captives will be taken from the hand of the mighty, And the spoil of war will be rescued from the tyrant. I will liberate them from their captors and contend with your enemies. I will save your children. (Voice)

The first dimension of favour that God is giving us in this season is forced favour or what you call favour by force. Some people do not just like your face, but God will compel them to favour you in the Name of Jesus. For some of us, we know that if there were to be an election, no one will vote for us. But God will compel them to thumbprint in our favour. The children of Israel had been slaves in Egypt for over four hundred years. When it was time for their deliverance, God began to deal with the Egyptians, the king Pharoah was being hardened. When God covered Egypt with frogs, Pharaoh sent for Moses and Moses asked when Pharoah wanted the frogs to go, and he said tomorrow.

I am sure like me, you wondered “why would he say tomorrow when there are frogs everywhere? Why not now?” By the time the tenth plague came, Pharoah sent for Moses that night and said Israel should leave that very night. Ex.12:^35-36 “And the people of Israel did as Moses had instructed; they asked the Egyptians for clothing and articles of silver and gold.  The Lord caused the Egyptians to look favourably on the Israelites, and they gave the Israelites whatever they asked for. So, they stripped the Egyptians of their wealth!” (emphasis added). The wealth of Egypt was transferred to the Jews in one single day. The Bible says God caused the Egyptians to look favourably on the Israelites but, the favour we know is typically associated with people liking you. God is showing another dimension of favour, where someone does not like you but has no choice but to favour you. That grace is coming upon you now in the Name of Jesus.

We see a similar thing play out in the life of Jacob in Gen.31:20-29 (please read). Jacob had laboured for fourteen years to marry one wife. Really, it was one wife he was after, even though he got two and he did not complain. When it was time, Jacob left Laban’s house because Laban was too crafty for him. He met his match. The Bible says three days after Jacob left, when Laban discovered he had gone, he marshalled his troops and he chased after Jacob for seven days. By the seventh night, they were on the same hill, Jacob was on this side and Laban was on the other side. So, Laban decided they should rest for the night, and in the morning, he would deal with Jacob. That very night, God showed up to him in a dream and warned Laban. Laban came to Jacob and said “The God of your fathers appeared to me and warned me”. God is going to appear to people and warn them on your behalf in the Name of Jesus. The warning that can make a Laban step down is called forced favour, by fire by force. God will force people to favour you and He does that by fighting on your behalf. Ps.35:¹ “Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.” (KJV). It is at the core of forced favour.

Prayer: My Father, arise and fight for me, for Your Name sake, make it clear to everyone and every force that You control my destiny, in the Mighty Name of Jesus. Amen!