Probably all of us have heard the old adage that “It is not what you know, but who you know.” We see this in politics, in who gets what job, and back in my day, who even got homecoming queen or the school’s most beautiful or most intellectual. While we might not like the implication, it does have a bigger and more crucial place in the grand scheme of all of life. Ultimately, how you know God or not makes that difference. Beyond that, how you acknowledge God makes that big difference is seeing evidence of His favor or not.
Several years ago, the church that I was in had a meeting about trying to reach the people of the city more with the gospel. One of the members shared the observation that cities that seemed to flourish economically also seemed to have vibrant churches within them. Recently, I had a lightbulb moment as I listened to the Gideon speaker for my church on Sunday.
In Clarke County, it is a well-known fact that the Enterprise School District always does really well on the state score card and the Quitman School District always struggles to just not fail. Different factors are proposed to make that difference, such as the demographics of the two districts. In the church message, I found what I think might really be the difference – the connection with Divine favor. You see, the Enterprise School District welcomes the Gideons to distribute New Testaments to their 5th graders. The Quitman School District does not allow the Gideons to do this.
We can also see such a difference in other life areas. Have you noticed that if you tithe, there is more likelihood that the rest of your money will stretch better than if you don’t tithe? Those who pray in the Spirit report seeing questions answered and problems resolved much more readily. While we don’t pray, tithe, etc. just to get the favor, it does seem that putting God in His rightful place opens the door for the favor to happen. Just saying!
