June 6 – God’s Good Favor (Psalm 5:12)

“A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but the Lord condemns a crafty man.” (Proverbs 12:2)

IN WORD:
We might think that the opposite of a good man is a bad man. Not so, according to this verse. A good man is contrasted here with a crafty man. God bestows no favor on those who — like the serpent in the Garden — are devious.
Our world praises shrewdness. But shrewdness has a devious side; craftiness manipulates people for one’s own ends. Why is it so tolerable to the world and so odious to God? Because the desire to serve self is common to all humanity. Those who do it best are often admired. But craftiness says volumes about a person’s belief in God. Those who are cunning do not expect God to help them; they must help themselves. They do not expect god to honor goodness; they must seek their own good. They do not believe God is watching; they are in this world for themselves. In short, a crafty person denies who God is.
All of us have a tendency to manipulate circumstances. We want to stack the odds in our favor, to set the best course before us, to get everyone else on our side. But the more focused we become on our position in this world — whether at work, at home, at church, or in any other social situation — the less focused we become on God. We cannot have our eyes on our own agenda and God’s simultaneously unless ours is perfectly in line with His — and it rarely, if ever is.

IN DEED:
Being “good” in the eyes of God and in the definition of Scripture involves a hands-off approach to the things that belong to God. He is the Master of our circumstances; there is no need for our guile. The opportunities He wants us to have will be opened before us. The people He wants us to know will come into our path. No manipulation is necessary — or even welcome. All that he requires from us is our willing to His plan. That, above all else, obtains His favor.

“When you get your own way, you nurse a hideous idol called self. But when you give up your way, you get God.”
-Janet Erskin Stewart-