Be A Faithful Partner In God’s Sovereign Plan
BRD REFLECTION 2025
(Teresa Li, CIC Facilitator)
READ:
Matthew 1 (NIV)
OBSERVE:
Matthew 1:1-17 records the genealogy of the Lord Jesus, which is grouped into three significant periods in Israelite history: Abraham to David (v1-6a); David to the exile to Babylon (v6b-11); and from the exile to Christ (v12-16). To achieve His redemptive plan, God partnered with both righteous individuals and ordinary, imperfect people. God’s redemption plan took generations to realise and deviations could have occurred due to people’s poor choices. However, God was in control, and His plan was not thwarted by the schemes of sinful people.
Matthew 1: 18-25 recounts that the virgin Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit and gave birth to Jesus, thus fulfilling Old Testament prophecy: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).
APPLY:
It is rather unexpected that God chose many ordinary and flawed people alongside righteous people as the Messiah’s ancestors. The genealogy of Jesus reminds me of what I learnt from Isaiah 55:8-9: God’s thoughts are not my thoughts, and His ways are higher than my ways. As I survey the leaders around me and in the world, some are so flawed that they create more mess and dissension than order and harmony in their respective areas of authority. This is disheartening, but I trust that God is sovereign and that His promises will not be affected in the slightest by even the gravest human error. I have also learnt that for things that are beyond my control, I need to surrender them to God. For what God has tasked me, I need only to do it wholeheartedly in accordance with His ways.
DO:
I will meditate on the Word of God day and night, learn from those who have fallen, and remind myself not to fall the same way.
I will also stay connected to my Lord through prayer and listening to my Master’s voice so that I do not deviate too much from His plans.
PRAY:
Thank You, Lord, for loving me even though I have fallen far short of Your glory. Lord, teach me Your ways, and hold me close each day so that I will be a less flawed servant in Your perfect plan.
