ICS Daily Devotions
God’s Will and Plan Will Work Best for Us
God has given man free will to choose although He has a preferred plan for us. Have you heard of the phrase “don’t be a Jonah” which means running away from doing the right thing in life?
Jonah 1:3,10-12 (NKJV) But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord…Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?”… Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous. And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.”
Jonah went in the opposite direction from Nineveh where God had called him to go when he boarded the ship for Tarshish. He was running away from God’s calling, plan and will for his life. He was silly enough to flee from the omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent God! Jonah had probably never heard of the phrase “you can run but you cannot hide”. Not surprisingly, God found him.
Luke 4:43 (NKJV) but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”
Jesus was fulfilling the Abrahamic Covenant where He was called to preach to the people of Israel. Jesus was sent by God to the world to die for the sins of mankind. Even though Jesus was sent to proclaim the Kingdom of God to the people of Israel, God’s heart is for the all the nations to be saved. That’s the desire and the plan of God where He wants all the families of the earth to be blessed. It is true that the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few especially at a time when the church is more inward than outward looking. Jesus was sent to a godless generation to save them from their sins. He has done the work of redemption, and therefore He is sending all of us into the marketplace, neighbourhood, schools, universities and the world to spread the good news.
Because of the submission of Jesus, God’s plan of salvation through Him for mankind was fulfilled, but we must constantly strive to understand God’s will and plan through His Word and our prayers with the help of the Holy Spirit and let His plan for us unfold smoothly.
The question is are you living solely for the small fraction of eternity, which is our life on earth, or for the entirety of eternity? God wants us to live intentionally and purposefully by aligning our plans with His that lead to eternity. His will and plan will work best for us and for the greater good of mankind.
Sermon Series: Smooth Sailing
