Favor from God Displaces All Fear

David W Palmer

Jesus’s incarnation—his conception, birth, and nurture—gives us insight into how God’s word is conceived spiritually in us, how it comes to birth through us, and then how it grows to mature fruitfulness:

(Luke 1:26–27 NKJV) Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, {27} to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

As we see, this story begins with an angel appearing to Mary. She may have felt shocked, terrified, overwhelmed, or intimidated by his appearing. But his assignment wasn’t to judge her, kill her, of fight with her; he was a messenger sent from God with a promise:

(Luke 1:30 NKJV) Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”

In this verse, the angel implied that Mary was fearful when he appeared to her; he immediately said, “Do not be afraid.” Perhaps the mere sight of this magnificent creature terrified Mary, or maybe she was in dread of what he might say.

How would you have felt? It can be scary enough to be confronted by a human prophet; but for God to materialize one of his highest-ranking angels in front of you, could be very alarming. What would he say? What would he do? Was he here to confront her sins? Perhaps he was sent to escort her to Paradise. The possibilities are endless and open to the imagination, that is, until you receive further information.

We can be reassured of God’s good intentions for us, when we hear Gabriel’s God-inspired words to Mary: “Do not be afraid.” This speaks to us of God’s amazing love for her and for us:

(1 John 4:18 NKJV) “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”

I believe that we need constantly to renew our minds to this truth; anything God says to us, has for us, or wants us to do, is coming from his pure love for us. God is love (1 John 4:16).

If you are in fear today—scared of what God might say to you, or of what he may want you to do—John’s passage implies that you have “not been made perfect in love.” I encourage you therefore, to find and meditate on the parts of God’s word that reveal his love for you. Allow them to flood your thinking and to renew your mind. Thus, you will receive revelation of the amazing love of God that the Holy Spirit has poured into your heart:

(Romans 5:5 NKJV) “… the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Next, the angel explained to Mary the reason she should not fear: “For you have found favor with God.” He had already said in Luke 1:28 that she was “highly favored,” but now he said that she had “found” favor.

Although the ramifications of this statement are powerful and far-reaching, it is at the very least a positive greeting—wishing the person well in every way—and it is an expression of absolute delight in them. Among the many other blessings springing from this grace, Gabriel was saying in particular that God was delighted in Mary, and that he wanted only the best for her. She was “highly” favored; and in Christ, so are you.

If you are born again, in love with God, living by faith, and walking in the Spirit, God highly favors you; he delights in you, loves you, and wants only the very best for you. This is the favor that dispels all fear, and you can enjoy it today.

“Favor” comes from the Greek word, “charis,” which means grace, gratitude, and thankfulness. But primarily, it means undeserved favor in every way possible— “especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life” (Strongs G5485). God invites us to come boldly to his “throne of grace” today, to obtain mercy and “find” his grace to “help” us:

(Hebrews 4:16 NKJV) “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

The Holy Spirit says here that we “find” grace to help. We note also that Gabriel said that Mary had “found” grace (Luke 1:30). Grace is available; but the Holy Spirit reminds us that we have to find it. Therefore, he invites us to come “boldly” to the throne of grace where it can be found today.

First, this implies that “in Christ” we have ready access and a warm welcome waiting for us in God’s throne room:

(Ephesians 3:11–12 NKJV) … Christ Jesus our Lord, {12} in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.

Second, his word “boldness” means to come with all outspokenness. That is, frankness, bluntness, and by implication, assurance. We can be assured that in Christ, and in his righteousness, we can come with guaranteed access and confident welcome to boldly confess God’s word at his throne. Note: if your conscience is hindering this through guilt, the Holy Spirit says to “obtain mercy” there as well by asking for forgiveness (See: 1 John 1:9). Then through bold confession of God’s word, and by lingering in his glorious presence, we can “find” the grace we need.

Grace helps us in many ways. Grace is God’s power to live free of sin. But grace is even more than that; it describes what happens when we encounter God’s love and begin to pursue a relationship with him. This triggers a deep hunger for intimate love, accepting closeness, and open fellowship that is life changing. It’s like a young man falling in love with a girl; suddenly his whole look, habits, thoughts, and language are transformed. His encounter with love, and the taste of closeness, give him an insatiable hunger for more, so he automatically changes into what is needed to receive it.

The promise of growing intimacy and relationship motivates and empowers the young man in love to get rid of anything from his life that would come between him and the girl he loves. He will even change what he likes and dislikes to be fully accepted. He doesn’t do all of this changing by legalism. Even though his mother’s rules may have taught him what is and is not acceptable, they cannot empower him to obey them. But he changes in response to love and the promise of growing intimacy. This is grace; and this is God’s way of changing us.

I encourage you today, awaiting you at God’s throne is perfect love and the exact greeting Gabriel told Mary: “Fear not! You have found favor with God”—favor being the grace he told us to find.

(Hebrews 4:16 NKJV) “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”