My dear friend’s mother-in-law was a true saint and pillar in our church. One Friday afternoon, I ran into a man in our church hallway who was proof of her life’s impact.
I noticed he looked lost, so I asked if I could help him.
“I’m looking for Ms. Betty Williamson,” he said. “She used to be at this church all the time. Is she still here?”
If you knew Ms. Betty, you know the answer. Yes. Ms. Betty was always volunteering at church.
As I walked him to her, I asked about his story. What he told me brought me to tears.
This man had grown up in Victoria. At 7, he had experienced an incident that physically impaired him, making traditional learning hard. Because of this, teachers pitied him and passed him from grade to grade, though he was failing their classes.
By the time he arrived in Ms. Betty’s class, he had given up. He knew he would fail but assumed he would be passed, anyway. So, on the first day of her class, he did what he had done every day of every class for years. He wrote “DUMB” in the name space of his assignment and turned it in.
The next morning, Ms. Betty asked to see him outside her classroom.
“I’ll never forget that day, Pastor,” the man stopped walking and looked me straight in the eye. “Ms. Betty cared enough about my future to stop me from throwing it away. From that day on, instead of writing “DUMB” in the name space, she made me write “Philippians 4:13—‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’”
Eventually, this young man’s grades began improving. So did his confidence—so much so that he applied for college. Not only did he get accepted to college, but he also graduated, and then graduated from seminary, too. Today, he is a pastor in Dallas-Fort Worth, living a life marked by God’s favor.
This man’s life proves something Ms. Betty knew to be true: a future marked by God’s favor isn’t one in which we have no burdens. It’s one in which God works in spite of our burdens to both bless us and make us a blessing to others.
In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus tells us He was sent to earth to proclaim God’s favor. The word He used for proclaim is ‘qara’ which means “special invitation.”
Jesus is especially inviting you, friend, to live a life marked by God’s favor. Will you accept that invitation? If so, you too can experience God’s presence deeply and reflect His goodness clearly, your life serving as a beautiful instrument of His grace.Today, I want to encourage you just like Ms. Betty would: Your life matters. So, believe you are who God says you are. Then, live like it. Do the work it takes to be who He says you can be. If you do, then, like this man, you’ll lead a life clearly marked by God’s favor!
