Plan With God – The Master Planner

Last Sunday’s sermon was preached by Brother Mark on “Plan With God – The Master Planner” (Jonah 1:1-15; 2:1-2; 3:1-5). The sermon and the whole service can be watched on our WIC YouTube Channel:


From the sermon we are reminded to keep God in our plans and seek His counsel throughout our walk in life.

 

Why must we Plan with God?

1. In order not to disconnect from our source. This reminds us that whatever resource we have and put into our plans are given by God and planning without Him means we do not have a source.

2. To avoid wasting our resources. In the first reading, we place emphasis on how Jonah paid for his journey but never got to his destination, which resulted in a waste of his resources. With God in our plans, we would not find ourselves in such situations.

3. In order not to be disappointed. When we plan with God, we are guaranteed not to be disappointed. Jonah tried to run from the presence of God and when the ship failed in the storm he became disappointed so that he blamed himself and said "throw me into the sea and the storm will stop." This reflects how we sometimes feel disappointed in ourselves when things don't go as planned. In a similar scenario, when Jesus encountered a storm, He (Jesus) was not disappointed but – knowing He had God (the Father) in Him – He ordered the storm to calm down.

 

So what must we do if we’ve already made plans without God?

It's never too late to call on God. We read from Jeremiah 33:3 which reminds us to call on His name and He will answer. Notice how in the belly of the fish, Jonah cried out to God and He answered. 

 

God the Master Planner. 

The end of the message reveals how God had a plan to make the message of salvation to the people of Nineveh become easier for Jonah – because the people believed in a river god: Oannes (represented by a fish and a human being coming out of its mouth). Hence Jonah coming out of the mouth of the fish represented God to them and so they believed in his message. God had a Master Plan for Jonah even before He gave him his calling!

 

Further readings

Matthew 5:14, Jeremaiah 33:3-6. Jonah 3.

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