The year of the Lord's favor
Ever heard God whisper to you?
To say I hear His voice in-frequently would be generous. However, in rare moments over the course of my 50-cough years, I believe I’ve heard God’s “gentle whisper.”1
The context of 1 Kings 19:12 is entrancing. Elijah the prophet was on the run. An evil queen was determined to to exterminate him. He’d embarrassed her and the odious religious cult she’d established. If you’re familiar with the negative connotations of “Jezebel,” it’s from this queen. She wasn’t a fun character. Not only was she a God-hater and insolent, but she sought to eradicate anyone who showed her up, called her out, or exposed her sin.
That’s why Elijah was on the run. Exhausted, he finally stopped to hide in a cave. He was disconsolate. He felt isolated. He’d done all God told him to do, and in spite of victory over false prophets and the evil queen, he was the one on the run, not them.
In those dark-soul hours, Elijah cried out to God, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of Armies, but the Israelites have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking for me to take my life.”2
What happened next is the stuff of cherished Christian promises. God sent loud, crashing and even fiery storms to demonstrate His power, and yet with each successive clamor, scripture says, “But the Lord was not in the wind/earthquake/fire.”
Instead, a “voice” came. It was described as a “soft whisper.” And with that announcement, God visited Elijah. He encouraged the weary prophet. He prepared him for days ahead. God wasn’t done with him.
Each year, I write a “Thanksgiving post.” You can see last year’s here.
Earlier this year, I was journaling at a coffee shop, one of my standard “sacred” places. It was there I heard this rare gentle whisper. I had not experienced any storms and wasn’t discouraged at the time. Although I had been crying out to the Lord - for His favor, wisdom, patience, vision and endurance. I just “sensed” 2024 held something significant. I was reading in Isaiah 61 - a passage pointing to the coming of the Messiah - and I got hung up on one phrase, “the year of the Lord’s favor.”3
As a pastor, I know the context of the passage determines how you interpret it. I know that you just can’t reach into a passage and claim a phrase for yourself. Much bad biblical interpretation has been done that way.
And yet I did.
I heard a gentle whisper, a nudge, a leading, a drawing. It was as if God simply drew my eyes to the phrase and urged me to camp out there.
The year of the Lord’s favor
It was an especially sweet morning. I couldn’t tell if I had been warmed by the coffee or the serendipitous moments with the Lord in the scriptures.
Fast forward about six months.
I was reviewing my journal entries4 and I came across the entry about “the year of the Lord’s favor. Time stopped. I inhaled deeply. I don’t think God thumps us on the head, but it was as if in that moment that my noggin was struck. I looked up from my journal in wonder. “Look at this year” seemed to echo in my heart. And it was then that I sat back, looked out the window, and… realized… 2024 has been a year of the Lord’s favor - for me, my family, and my church.
A year ago at the end of October, our first grandson was born. It was last summer that our Sam and Sidney experienced God’s favor, getting their dream job in Lynchburg as the area director of Young Life. They were favored as they sold their home in Winchester and bought one. A few months ago, our son-in-law was interviewed and selected to be the next young adult minister at our church in Blacksburg. He and our daughter were favored as they sold their house in Newport News and bought a house in Christiansburg. Carolyn and I felt so deeply favored to see our kids thriving and having them move closer. Carolyn has also been favored this year, as she’s worked on her master’s in counseling and experienced blessing. Our church has seen God’s favor and blessing in almost too many ways to count.
God has been so good.
And what He’s continued to do in my heart - even as I’ve cried out to Him at times - is simply… indescribable. Contentment, joy, humility, and worship have lapped at the edges of my cup. I’ve gotten to visit my parents this year in Little Rock and hung out with my dad as my mom took a trip with her college friends. We just returned from another trip to Arkansas over Thanksgiving in which my parents got to meet their great-grandson for the first time! The joy on their faces was palpable.
“This is the year of the Lord’s favor.”
When Jesus was beginning His ministry, He went to his hometown of Nazareth. He worshipped in the synagogue there. Wanting to honor the “hometown hero” (He was becoming something of a celebrity at that point), the priest of the synagogue handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
It was then, at this very moment, that Jesus intentionally found the passage in the scroll that I referred to earlier. He stood and read:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”5
Even as we drove home from Arkansas, I thought about those moments earlier this year when I had read Isaiah 61. I reflected on all that God has done this past year. He has shown me, my family and my church so much favor.
He is good.
I can’t help but think of King David’s response to God’s favoring him with an incredible promise.
“Who am I, Lord GOD, and what is my house that you have brought me this far?”6
This year - 2024 - has been a unique year. My family feels it. My church feels it. We have undeservedly experienced an outpouring of God’s favor. That doesn’t mean things are perfect - not at all. It’s just that God’s favor has overflowed our trials and challenges.
And like Elijah, we’ve been reminded that we are not alone. His promises prevail.
“For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor, a lifetime.
Weeping may stay overnight,
but there is joy in the morning.”7
God’s favor means God is with us. It’s His presence - not the wind, earthquake or fire that we crave. When God whispers, lean in. His favor is near.
Prior Thanksgiving posts
2008: Giving thanks
2010: The Thanksgiving Chair
2011: Very Thankful
2013: Thanksgiving 2013
2014: Thanksgiving past
2015: Another thankful year
2016: Choosing Thanksgiving
2018: Thankful for pardon
2020: A pandemic thanksgiving
2021: Thanksgiving smokers
I Kings 19:12.
1 Kings 19:10
Isaiah 61:2
You can read more here about the practice of reviewing my journal six months later as a regular, weekly discipline:
How I journal (and why I review it) and the call to rescue
Ten years ago, I wrote Old Journals and New Journeys. I’ve journaled my way from my seminary days in Texas to southeast Arkansas to southwest Virginia. There are boxes of journals in our attic.
Luke 4:18-19
2 Samuel 7:18
Psalms 30:5
Even in the middle of aging problems & frustration, I remind myself of how God has blessed our children & grandchildren and I am so grateful!
Thank you so much Jeff for reminding me of the Lords favor on my life, on my families lives, every day.. These past two years have indeed been the year of the Lords favor upon our family, as weve welcomed three grandbabies into our family, and it wasnt that long ago that I didnt think I would be allowed grandbabies on this earth, then the Lord blessed us with three all within a little under two years. . We are so so so incredibly blessed. And favored. Thank you for reminding me to be incredibly grateful and praising the Lord for His favor . Jamie