Unseen Favor

Summary

In this episode of the Given a Purpose podcast, host Jacques LaGrange explores the concept of favor in life, reflecting on personal experiences and encouraging listeners to recognize and appreciate the favor they have received. Through anecdotes from his college years and discussions from a Bible study, he emphasizes the importance of gratitude and recognizing God's blessings, even when they may not align with our immediate desires.

Takeaways

Favor can come in unexpected forms.
Reflecting on past experiences can reveal instances of favor.
Gratitude is essential in recognizing favor.
Sometimes what we need isn't what we want.
Favor often requires patience and faith.
Acknowledging favor can lead to more opportunities.
Life's challenges can still be a form of favor.
We should express gratitude for unrecognized blessings.
Favor is not something we earn; it's given.
Recognizing favor can enhance our perspective on life.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Favor
00:42 Personal Reflections on Favor
02:32 Experiences of Favor in College
05:49 Job Opportunities as Favor
07:42 Gratitude for Favor
09:38 Encouragement to Reflect on Favor

Transcript

Jacques LaGrange (00:01.112)
Have you ever had a favor? Let's talk about it next on a Giving A Purpose Podcast.

Jacques LaGrange (00:31.586)
Welcome to the Giving A Purpose Podcast where we bridge the highs, the lows, lessons learned through life's journey and filling in the gap. You already know what it is. New episode, new week.

I am your host as always, Mr. LA. Listen, I need you guys to do me a favor, man. Hit that subscribe button. You already know you need to hit that subscribe button. Share it with somebody, man. And if you like it, leave a comment. Let me know how I'm doing. Appreciate it. Man, I'm going back and I'm thinking about this week. I was in another...

Bible study. Shout out to a good friend of mine who's holding this Bible study on Wednesdays. And her topic was favor. And it was good. So she was giving examples of different times that God has shown her favor in life. So she's going through

different scenarios, different stories and different opportunities and different things. And she was just like, you know, I've been in situations where, you know, with my parents, I was shown favor. Different opportunities in school, I was shown favor. Different times in life, like recently, she had favor where she's on a substitute teachers.

salary. She moved over here from the west coast on faith and she walked into the dealership and walked out with a brand new 2025 car and she's going through these different situations and different things and I'm thinking to myself and I'm like man like you know I'm saying I don't know if I've ever had like favor like that and I'm like

Jacques LaGrange (02:29.518)
I ain't just crazy and know as she's going through the stories, I'm like, maybe I did have favor and I didn't look at it like that at that time. And so I started reflecting and thinking about situations where I did have favor with things and different opportunities. And at that time, can I be honest with you? I didn't.

One, appreciate it. Two, I didn't really look at it as favor, because I didn't really want it at that time, but it was definitely favor. So one of the situations I started to think about where I received favor was when I first went to college. So when I first went to college, I had to actually take the bus up there.

And so I had all my luggage, had all my things. haven't, I had no classes registered. I didn't have my ID card. All I had was my luggage and I'm sitting in the lobby. And so I'm just sitting there chilling and the director of the housing kept walking past. Well, let me, let me back up. First he said,

I had a room for you, but there was too many people in it. So I'm gonna have to figure something out. So he kept walking past me. like, I'm gonna find you a room. So I'm just sitting there and he just kept walking past me like, give me a minute. I'm gonna find you a room. Now mind you, like I said, I rode up on the Greyhound, then caught a cab to a city I'm not familiar with.

And I'm just sitting there. Then the next thing you know, six hours went by. Listen, no cap. Six hours went by. So you know I'm starving. I'm just sitting there. And he walked past me one more time and he was like, listen, you sat there for six hours. You didn't complain. You didn't say anything.

Jacques LaGrange (04:56.706)
You know what I'm gonna do? I'm going to pay for half of your housing and I'm gonna give you a job. And I found you a room. Now, like I told you before, in my mind, I really just wanted to be a student. I didn't really want a job, but I favor and I had to look at it as like, I really was shown favor. And then on top of that,

The room that he put me in, he put me in there with a guy that was from Maryland. So not only that, you know, we had things to talk about and things in common, I wasn't put in there with somebody, not saying it would be a bad thing, but I wasn't put there with somebody that was just like from some place I've never even heard of. And it was crazy because, you know,

It was kind of close. He lived close to Baltimore. You know, I was from DC, so it was just like, okay, cool. But like I said, at that time, I didn't look at it as favor. And then I just started thinking again, you know, times that I was out there. I remember there was a time where I, for some reason, I don't know, I was still in like high school mode in my mind. So.

Every summer, not every summer, my first two summers of college, I would come home. I knew I had a job, knew I had a place, you know, you know, my friends were here, I could hang out. So was coming home. So we were getting to that third summer. And guess what? I was about to come home again. Already was about to buy my ticket. And before that, though, let me back up and tell the story right.

So my roommate, shout out to Kev, my roommate went to go apply for a job. And so I'm like, where y'all going? He's like, I'm going to go apply for this job up at the hospital. I was like, all right, well, let me ride with you. So I went, he's applying for the job. I went and applied for the job too. I'm literally looking, putting the same information that he's putting. Like, what you put? okay. Yeah. Boom, boom, boom. Putting all this stuff. So.

Jacques LaGrange (07:18.818)
Fast forward to I'm getting ready to leave. I called my mom. I was like, yeah, I'm going try to get my ticket tomorrow so I can come home. She was like, OK. And literally that day, the hospital calls me. I was like, we want to offer you a job. Now once again, I'm not really thinking about no job because now I'm going to be in Tallahassee all year long. And Tallahassee is really a ghost town.

really, really a ghost town during the summers. I'm like, I don't want this. But it gave me an opportunity. Like it gave me, like I said, I got the job that my roommate was applying for. I'm like, man, I've had different instances where God has shown me favor. And even though I didn't necessarily like it or accept it or.

different things like that, or my situation wasn't just like hers, I was receiving this favor. And as I told her while we were on the Bible study call, I was like, I really have to sit and reflect on things where God has shown me favor and I wasn't grateful at all. So I started to reminisce and thinking and write things down.

and go through a list of things. And I had to tell God, first of all, I'm sorry and forgive me for being unappreciative. I didn't look at it as being shown favor. I was looking at it from a standpoint where that's not necessarily what I wanted, but it was exactly what I needed because that's what he said he would do. He said he would supply all my needs and he knew I needed really a job.

I was staying off campus. eventually got my own car and that comes with expenses. I had to eat different things like that, but it was something that I needed. And that now I realize when I'm going through things, even when I'm having hard times and things may not work out the way that I want to, God is still showing me favor. So I have to add that to my thinking and add that to

Jacques LaGrange (09:45.846)
my meditation and my prayer time to be more grateful of things that God does to supply my needs. Even though sometimes I may not necessarily see it as favor or see it as something that I want at that time, but it's something that I need. Now I want you guys to kind of reflect and take a moment and think about times where God.

maybe has shown you favor and you didn't look at it like that or see it in that light and how that situation of favor may have blessed you thinking about it and being in perspective of that. And when you do that, listen, tell him thank you. Cause I promise you he's gonna show you some more favor. There's nothing we can do to earn it. He's just something that he gives. And I know if I know the God that I know,

He'll give me more favor and more opportunities if I'm just grateful for the ones that he gave me. So make a list. Think about those times and think about opportunities where God has shown you favor that you didn't, that you couldn't have earned or you may not have deserved or you may not have looked at it in that way. And just say thank you because he has his favor over you.

Listen, hopefully this situation right now has blessed you and made you think and kind of meditate on a couple of things. So you know what you already got to do. You got to do two things I ask you to do every week. Make sure you live on purpose and make sure you live in purpose. I'll see you guys next time. Peace.