A good man obtains favor from ADONAI [the LORD], but He condemns a person with evil schemes. Proverbs 12:2, TLV

Favor?     What exactly is favor? Have you ever wondered about that? There’s doing a favor for someone or asking a favor for yourself. But that’s not the favor here.

The Hebrew word the writer of this proverb used is: רָצוֹן [ratzone] which means delight, desire, pleasure, goodwill, favor, acceptance, will. If we use any of these definitions in this passage, we get a broader sense of what the writer means.

Some have defined this favor as demonstrated delight. The warm fuzzy feeling of knowing we have a special relationship with someone. And here is where I want to land for today’s blog. The special and unique relationship we have with the Creator of the Universe — our Dad.

Life-Changing Moment

One of the precious, life-changing moments I had in my relationship with our Heavenly Father was when I realized how much He wanted to fellowship with me. My bond with His Son, Yeshua (Jesus) was strong. I mean someone taking on my punishment. Dying for me. Hanging around a bunch of misfits and inspiring them to become powerhouses of faith. Who wouldn’t love Him. But the Father . . . I didn’t quite know how to do it or if it was really that important.

I Was Missing Something

But what I missed from all Jesus taught and clearly demonstrated to those around Him was His love for His Father (John 17). Yeshua didn’t teach His disciples how to pray to Him, He taught them how to pray to His Father (Matthew 6:9-13). His pleasure and delight were to do His Father’s will — not His own (John 15:10). Why do I want to emulate Jesus? Because He showed me how to love, respect, and honor our Father.

Does that feel like semantics? At first, I thought so, but in walking this over the years, learning how to build our relationship with the Father will be a game-changer in our journey.

So how did building my relationship with the Father change me? It began with acknowledging the Creator of the Universe. Yeah, let’s begin there. Because He is the Giver. The Giver of Life, Redemption, Gifts, and the list goes on. Here are a few ways Dad and I got closer:

The Differences for Me . . .

Who would know me better?

Who knows the number of hairs on our head and values us more than His creation (Matthew 10:29-31)?

Our Father.

And Jesus was pretty proud of that fact. He loved bragging on His Father. Did I? I didn’t know how to do it—I had to learn how! Learning how from His Son.

A Few Morsels

He created this world and then gave us a training manual to live in it. What this did was open the whole of Scriptures to me — Genesis to Revelation. Rather than confining my studies to the smaller real estate of Matthew to Revelation — with the occasional forays into Psalms and Proverbs — the whole word opened up. My Dad was letting me in on some of the secrets of the universe. I love that! And I see Him working everywhere.

He gives wisdom freely to those who earnestly seek it (James 1:5). With my learning disabilities and history of poor choices, I begged and begged for wisdom. Somehow, I thought that God would just plop it into my head. But it wasn’t until two men of God, on opposite ends of the US, said that if I wanted wisdom, I needed to read a chapter of Proverbs each day. That’s when things dramatically changed. Paul acknowledges this tenacity in Timothy (2 Timothy 3:14-17).

Developing our Relationship Produces an Interactive Fellowship

I allow Him to connect with me the way He wants to — based on how He created me. Because He created us, knows us intimately, and we have searched for Him and His wisdom, the fun stuff comes.

Sometimes He and I connect over the silliest of things. I didn’t know He loved to laugh. I didn’t know He sang and danced over me (Zephaniah 3:17) He created me to be a creative person. As a writer He has a whole vista of opportunities to connect with me because creativity is 9/10th inspiration and 1/10th obedience. I’m thinking this applies to musicians, artists, teachers, scientists, engineers, farriers, doctors, nurses, etc.

With this much more interactive fellowship, I sense Him more. It’s like my Father holds my hand. And, because of this, it’s easier to find His “hand” in the midst of challenges and trails. Holding tight to Him is more natural. Sometimes I feel His delight and pleasure so strongly I cry. And when I recognize His favor, I rejoice and am grateful.

Favor in this relationship is about a Father and child. It may involve blessings as much as correction. Yes, it is about relationship.

Think More About It

Your story . . .

I would love to hear your stories. Did you know we could develop a deep relationship with the Father? If so, how have you experienced this? If you haven’t yet begun—oh, I’m so excited for you—how will you begin?

Until tomorrow, may you find delight and favor in our Heavenly Father, my friends.

Remember that Israel has special favor, too. Please continue to pray for her and her people. Shabbat Shalom and God bless!