What does favor look like? For a long time, I thought that if you were in someone’s favor, everything would be wonderful—that they would pour out honor and blessings on you. Like at work: if you had your boss’s favor, you’d get promoted, you’d get the best opportunities, you’d stay on the “winning” side of things. I guess I assumed favor would feel good. It would feel like a blessing. But the other day, while reading scripture, I saw God’s favor in a different light.

If you grew up in church like I did—raised in the pew and carried to Sunday school—then you know the story of Joseph. Joseph had dreams as a young boy, and when he shared those big, bold dreams with his brothers, it didn’t go over well. They resented him—and they resented their father’s deep affection for him. When the chance came, they attacked him, threw him into a well, and planned to leave him there. But then they decided to sell him instead, handing him over to slave traders passing by on the road. One young man, betrayed by his own brothers, was carted off to Egypt.

And in Egypt, Joseph did receive a “position”… but not the kind we usually imagine when we talk about favor. He was a slave. Yet scripture says God blessed what he did. God’s favor was on him. So much so that Joseph was trusted with more responsibility—higher roles, even as a slave. Have you ever thought about a “higher slave position” as favor from God? It makes you stop and think. Maybe favor doesn’t always look the way we expect it to look. Maybe it doesn’t feel the way we expect it to feel. God’s favor didn’t mean Joseph was freed. It didn’t mean he was instantly restored to the life that was stolen from him. It meant that everything he put his hand to was blessed.

That same favor didn’t keep him from trouble either. Joseph was falsely accused by his master’s wife and thrown into prison. And even there—behind bars—God blessed him. Favor didn’t mean the prison doors swung open. Favor didn’t mean the conditions suddenly became comfortable. Favor meant that God was with him, and what Joseph touched was blessed. People around him could see there was something different—something more than Joseph. It was the Lord’s presence on his life.

So maybe favor doesn’t mean things are easy. Maybe God’s favor doesn’t mean freedom from every struggle, or that life looks the way you wish it looked. Maybe favor is God providing—right in the middle of hard places. Maybe favor is the strength to keep moving forward, and the kind of integrity that shines so clearly other people can’t ignore it.

And when you look closely at Joseph, you can see why the favor of God rested on him. Think about how he responded to the two fellow prisoners who wanted to understand their dreams. Joseph didn’t act like the gift belonged to him—he pointed them to God. He made it clear: he couldn’t do it on his own, but the Lord could reveal what was hidden. Joseph understood that the power was God’s, and the glory belonged to God. That humility mattered.

People say they want the favor of God because they want blessings—open doors, ease, comfort, increase. But God doesn’t pour out His favor so we can be selfish with it. Even Israel was blessed to be a blessing. And Joseph—through every twist and turn—ended up feeding nations, saving lives, and pouring out what God put in him. He could’ve given in to bitterness. He could’ve felt sorry for himself. But again and again, he chose humility, and he chose to honor God.

In my own life, I can point to seasons that felt unfavorable—places I didn’t choose, delays I didn’t understand, hardships I didn’t ask for. But when I look back, what stands out isn’t the difficulty as much as the faithfulness of God. Even when I felt far from Him, He wasn’t far from me. And I have a feeling Joseph would say the same—not because scripture quotes him saying it, but because you can see it in the way he lived and the way he honored God.

God’s favor is not an easy life, and it’s not everything working out exactly the way you planned. His favor is His faithful, gracious provision—His presence in the pit, His blessing in the prison, His strength for the journey. So don’t believe the lie that because things aren’t picture-perfect you must have missed God or somehow fallen outside His blessing. He provides how He chooses. He sustains how He chooses. But His faithfulness is still real, and it is still for His children.

You, my friend, live under the favor of God. I pray today you recognize it and see it clearly. The road God took Joseph down had purpose—and the path to the dream ran straight through the nightmare—but at every step he was under God’s favor. So if your road feels long and hard, don’t assume God is against you. He is for you. He is drawing you to Himself. He is working, even when it’s impossible to understand. We just have to trust His heart, trust His love, and trust His faithfulness that never ends. As a child of God, you are highly favored and deeply loved. And even when the middle of the story makes no sense, one day it will be clear.