Steve Lyston | God's favour causes us to win

By watching the Golden State Warriors in the NBA basketball series and the West Indies cricket team, as well as certain political happenings globally, particularly where the Republicans lost the House in the US elections, it brings us to one revelation. Whether it is sports, politics or personal, regardless of how you work or train, winning has to do with God's favour and grace. Never take God's favour and grace for granted.

In order to maintain grace and favour, we must always acknowledge the one who is the source of our power and success. We must love the things God loves and hate the things He hates. Always remain humble, and never allow the enemy to be the recipient of our thanks and gratitude for what God has done for us.

We must be careful not to allow anything or anyone to pull us away from God's grace and favour. That means we need to be careful of what and who we endorse.

 

Remember your covenant with God

 

Many politicians, sports personnel and business people often forget their covenant with God, especially where they promised God: "If You will ... then I will ...". They must constantly re-examine the covenant with God, which allowed them God's favour and grace that caused them to win. These days, especially in sports, when they score or win in a game, they start showing hand signals similar to when directing traffic, or when doing sign language. Politicians are now 'evolving' and speaking a 'global language' that the people who make up the globe don't even understand.

 

Introspect

 

So we need to each ask ourselves some questions: Am I honouring God? Am I walking in obedience? Am I too big a star to honour God? Can I win without God's favour or grace? Have I allowed the praise and stardom to get to my head? Am I surrounding myself with people who will allow God's favour and grace to increase in my life? Do I think that I have arrived? Where do my earnings go? To whom am I pledging allegiance?

These are serious things to ponder in order to maintain God's favour and His grace which causes us all to win and be successful.

Thanksgiving to God will cause you to increase. Remember that regardless of how talented you are, how bright you think you are, the lack of God's favour and grace will allow you to be mediocre and common. There are many who are more brilliant than you are, but don't get the favour and the grace that is in your life.

The very family one is born into, the person who you marry - all come with grace and favour. For those in business, recognise that it is often the staff you employ in your organisation (who you sometimes treat like nothing) who come with favour and grace in their lives, and you benefit from it.

 

Golden connections

 

When LeBron James got his first NBA ring, it was as a result of his connection with Pat Riley. Kevin Durant got his first NBA ring when he connected with Steve Kerr. Usain Bolt started rising to public view through his connection and training under Glen Mills.

Golden connections with people who have a certain favour and grace can cause you to win. When it breaks, oftentimes you lose. God always increases His favour with Himself and man, and between man and man (Luke 2:52).

Being an expert in something without God's favour and grace will bring failure, because you are at that point depending on yourself, your knowledge, or on others, rather than on God who is the source of fresh revelation from the Word.

If you are doing all you can in this season and you are failing, then this is the time for you to begin to examine the grace and favour that have allowed you to prosper in the first place, with God and man.

There are times when people walk away from an organisation without realising or acknowledging that the success that they were enjoying was the result of the grace and favour on the individuals and the organisations from which they walked away.

God wants each and every one of us to be winners, but we must maintain His grace and favour.

- Steve Lyston is a biblical economics consultant and author of several books, including 'End Time Finance' and 'The New Millionaire'.