Some years ago, to catch our 9:30 a.m. flight from Calgary, Canada, to Las Vegas, USA, my wife and I left the house at 7:00 a.m. without breakfast. To our disappointment, only water and fruit juice were served during the three-hour flight, as it was classified as a domestic journey. While refreshments were sold on board, we were reluctant to spend our scarce dollars on snacks.
We arrived in Las Vegas famished, and the strenuous check-in process at the prestigious Caesars Palace Hotel only added to our exhaustion. After a long delay, the issue was finally resolved, and we were escorted to our luxuriously furnished room for the four-day conference of the Nigerian Association of Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical Scientists in the Americas (NAPPSA), held in collaboration with the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA).
On our return day, determined not to experience hunger on the flight again, we had some snacks and beverages at the hotel before heading to the airport. At the departure lounge, we ate apples and called our daughter in Calgary, asking her to prepare lunch, knowing that breakfast had been light and the airline wouldn’t be serving a meal on board.
However, we did not realise that we had to obtain seat numbers from a separate counter. We were turned back at the screening area and had to queue afresh after getting our seat assignments. Eventually, we were given seats 3F and 3D. I excitedly told my wife that we had been placed in business class. Though delighted, she suspected it might have been a mistake and called over the air hostess to confirm. The hostess simply smiled and told us to relax and enjoy the flight. Perhaps it was indeed an error in favour of the only Black couple on board; but one thing was certain: it was God’s favour. He was showing us, once again, that He can choose to favour anyone, at any time.
We flew business class from Las Vegas to Calgary and enjoyed all the privileges. Shortly after take-off, we were served fruit juice, water, newspapers, iPads, and headphones for in-flight entertainment. Hot towels were handed out for freshening up. Cashew nuts and our preferred drinks followed. In light-hearted jest, we requested tomato juice, since tomato had become a luxury commodity in Nigeria. Menu cards were distributed, and we selected our meals, which were served piping hot. I glanced at the economy class passengers with compassion; they had only water and fruit juice. That could have been us, were it not for divine favour.
Later, another round of drinks was served. Those who wanted alcoholic beverages had their fill. A variety of snacks followed, and the air hostess even encouraged us to take more. Of course, we did, saving some for our grandchildren in Calgary. We were so well fed on the flight that we couldn’t eat the lunch our daughter had lovingly prepared upon our arrival.
What we experienced was nothing short of divine favour. And similar experiences happen to others too. You may receive something you never paid for and didn’t expect. God may favour you in business, not because you work the hardest, have the best product or service, or know the most influential people. He may simply choose to elevate you above your peers.
That is why He says in Romans 9:15, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Many people exhaust themselves trying to succeed, working overtime, losing sleep, and even neglecting their spiritual lives in pursuit of wealth. But King Solomon offers this wisdom in Proverbs 23:4: “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness.”
Your success is not solely dependent on your effort, intelligence, or skill. Ecclesiastes 9:11 reminds us: “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favour to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.” (NIV)
Many things that occur in your work, business, or career are simply beyond human explanation. There are challenges only God can solve, because He alone is all-knowing. He governs much of what happens in the workplace. That is why you must put Him first and look to Him, not man.
Many employees place their hopes in their bosses for a raise or promotion, but it is God who lifts up. As Psalm 75:6–7 declares: “For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.”
