God’s Favour - New Beginning In Life | Reflections
Genesis 6:8
“But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD.” [NIV]
“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” [NKJV]
We read in Genesis chapter six that during the days of Noah, the moral deterioration of the human race was unprecedented. Wickedness, lawlessness, and violence and its vices grieved the heart of God.
Consequently, God decided to destroy mankind by flood. However, in the midst of the wickedness and degradation, Noah walked with God in righteousness and found favour in the eyes of the LORD.
Noah stood alone in his generation like a solitary green tree – erect in a forest of broken and fallen pines. Among the faithless, he was found faithful! Noah was righteous, discharging all the obligations of the law.
He was a full man – in the sense of completely walking with the Lord – not a one-sided and therefore a distorted one. Noah’s life was unaffected by the universal contamination and evil around him.
He was not a partaker of the sinful lifestyle, but rather driven to a more rigid abstinence from the debauchery of life that surrounded and besieged him. Beloved, learn that the true place of the saint is “in his generation.” What a beauty there is in that description of the isolated man, passing lonely among his contemporaries like a stream of pure water flowing untouched through foul liquid.
Though surrounded by friends, we have to realize that after all we live, suffer, and must die alone. Noah was an upright and straightforward man, always clear as crystal and eschewing a life of unfaithfulness. For that matter, the eyes of Almighty God favourably looked toward him in his generation.
He who is walking with God will be no sham amongst his fellow creatures, nor will he be a trickster. Truth will be upon his lips, justice in his hands, honour in his acts, probity in his dealings, and purity in his affections. Unquestionably, this lifestyle will attract God’s favour.
Noah, as biblical texts attest, was “perfect in his generation.” There was nothing pretentious, nothing vain – all was sincere and his devotion to his God was a visible reality. The man was just what he seemed to be — honest, earnest, and truthful.
The word “generation” is a very emphatic word in this connection. It was no easy thing for Noah to build the ark amidst the scoffing of his generation. Smart jokes fell around him like hail. All the “practical men” thought him a dreamy fool, wasting time while they prospered and made something of life.
The secret of his obedience is recorded in Hebrews chapter 11:7: “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is faith.” He realized the distant unseen because he believed Him who warned him of it.
The far-off flood was more real to him, and he could envisage its calamity upon mankind. Therefore, he could stand all the gibes, and gave himself to a course of life which was sheer folly unless that future was real. Noah stood out from the wickedness of his day, and God gave him a new beginning.
Favour of God will give you stimulus and hope to live life impeccable before God, irrespective of the environment you find yourself in. Hope emerges when favour of God dawns upon your life. When the whole world of the ungodly is destroyed, people who find favour with God are preserved.
As Noah was directed by God to build an ark for the saving of himself and his family and obeyed, he subsequently found favour with God. He therefore had the honour and great privilege of being the preserver of mankind, the father of a new world.
The LORD preserved Noah. Noah therefore escaped from the sweeping destruction of the flood simply because of God’s favour. Our continuing walk of righteousness, piety, and intimate fellowship with God will bestow His divine favour.
Just as Lord sent a deluge to wipe out the sinful human race but remembered Noah because of His favour upon him, may the Almighty God remember and save you from every calamity as His favour rests upon your life. The favour of God makes all the difference in life.
Today, begin to see and realize that you have found favour in the eyes of God. Activate it by faith, claim it by faith, and see all the difference it can make your life henceforth. Give Him the praise! Amen.
