The Favor of God

I've been focusing on the favor of God--that I'm favored every day because I'm His. I have more than just anyone is this world. I have Him; His blood; His grace; His favor.

So, this morning, I sat down to finish the grant proposal I've been working on for COTR for the last six weeks. Two weeks ago, I hit a wall. The funder I'm requesting money from requires an audited statement, and the Dream Center does not have an audited statement (since it's so young). I contacted the funder to see if they would accept our most recent financial statement. I was given the run-around for over week--call this person, no call that person, etc. I was given numbers that didn't work and emails that said they were invalid. When I finally thought I had the right contact person, I sent another email. One week later, I've heard nothing. Last week, I made another phone call to this person. Still, didn't hear anything back.

At this point, I was really discouraged. Funders live and breathe by the requirements they set forth in their RFP. If they wanted an audited statement and if we don't have one, we're out. Given that I'd spent a month on this project, I didn't want to be "out." I didn't want to change funders, and I didn't want to re-write another proposal.

Yesterday, when I started working on the project, I knew that was a big hole in our proposal. We'd decided just to go for it, but I think, deep down, I wanted the assurance that all this hard work would at least have a shot at something. So, I asked the Lord for his favor. I declared it, actually, because I am blessed and highly favored of the Lord.

So, this morning, I sit down to finish the proposal (due Thursday). And I receive a text message from a friend that says, "You're highly favored today; be blessed with your profession/career." I smiled and sat the phone down and thought, "okay." Not ten minutes after I received that text message, I got an email reply from the funder saying they would accept our most recent financial statement, in light of our not having been audited.

I couldn't believe it. After no response for almost two weeks, I'd literally given up on the idea that I'd ever hear back. But God is good and faithful. And He does more than meet our expectations. He surprises us with favor and blessing. It could not have come at a more perfect time; I'm not sure last week I would have appreciated His gift. But today, not only do I see it as a special gift for me, but I also see it as His confirmation to me that He is listening. He didn't have to do it, but He chose to because He loves me and because I am His.