Because You're Favored

And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.  Genesis 37:4

Sometimes people may treat you harshly or do things that are unfair to you.  Perhaps like Joseph experienced, they may even be members of your own family or close friends.  If you have or are experiencing this, don’t be discouraged.  Their hatred or unfair treatment of you does not necessarily come from the fact that they have a bad heart or that they are a bad person but it is a byproduct of God’s favor on your life.  Psalm 30:5 (NLT) is clear that “his favor lasts a lifetime.”  There will be tangible signs of God’s favor in your life like there were with Joseph.  The favor of God in Joseph’s life was evident to his brothers as a result of the dream he had that their sheaves bowed to his sheaf (Genesis 37:7), when he dreamed the sun, moon, and 11 stars bowed to him (Genesis 37:9), and because of the coat of many colors that he received from his father (Genesis 37:3).  The favor from his father of course is symbolic of our Heavenly Father God.  As a result of this favor, his brothers plotted to kill him and ultimately sold him into slavery (Genesis 37:26-28).  Nonetheless, since God’s favor was on Joseph and lasts a lifetime he found favor wherever he went (Genesis 39:2, Genesis 39:22-23, and Genesis 41:40) and was ultimately made ruler of all the land of Egypt second in command only to Pharaoh.  Like Joseph, perhaps God’s favor is evident in your life because of a promotion on your job, financial prosperity, doors of opportunity that are opening, physical beauty, or how your family is thriving.  Don’t take their unfair treatment of you or their hatred personally.  It is because you are favored by God which is all that really matters anyway!