Our Part in God's Plan | January 2020
Thursday Evening
30 January, after your evening meal
Pray +
For our hope to be in God’s sovereign authority and steadfast love, and not in our own strength and plans.
Read and Meditate +
The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
(Proverbs 16:9)
The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring. Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty! Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits your house, O Lord, forevermore.
(Psalm 93)
Consider +
2020 feels like it has barely begun, and yet a month is coming to an end. The beginning of a new year may have inspired many of us to set resolutions on how we can improve and grow. Many of us have set wonderful goals for the year to better serve our families and communities. How has the first month of 2020 been? Are you beaming because things are going well according to your plan, or are you feeling discouraged by setbacks already?
While it is wise to plan ahead to steward our time and resources well, we often operate on the delusion that we are in full control. We assume we know what is best for ourselves. We assume that if our plans are well-thought out, they will come to pass. We often attribute success and failure primarily to ourselves. If we are not careful, it is easy to fall into a subtle form of self-reliance. One of its most common symptoms is prayerlessness, and a chronic reluctance to surrender our plans to God.
The Bible makes it clear that “the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” It is God who ultimately decides what comes to pass, by His grace and better plan. The Bible also says that God is good, and we can prayerfully commit our plans to the good Father. We can put our hope and trust in His sovereign authority to steer our lives in the way that they should go for the glory of Christ. Whether we have planned for it or not, regardless of whether the year so far is going according to our plan, God is inviting us to trust and depend on Him as He establishes our steps for the rest of 2020.
Prayerful Reflection +
- What are you hoping for from your plans, and what do they reveal about the desires of your heart? How tightly do you hold onto them?
- When the things that you prize most do not go according to your plans, how do you respond towards God?
- Looking back, how has God been establishing your steps? Can you recount His guidance and providence? How has He shown His grace to you in unexpected ways, and is your heart glad in Him?
- How does knowing God as our good and sovereign King provide comfort when things do not go according to plan?
Friday Morning
31 January
Pray +
For our posture to be dependent on God, and our heart to always be humble before Him.
Read and Meditate +
As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.” By your favor, O LORD, you made my mountain stand strong; you hid your face; I was dismayed.
(Psalm 30:6-7)
Consider +
The psalmist, David, acknowledged before God that during time of “prosperity”, he felt self-sufficient. By God’s grace, he was also spiritually aware of this pride and not deluded by the false sense of security. God opened his eyes to see His favour, and David was able to confess his utter dependence on God. In the awareness of his weakness, he found true strength in God.
In times of trials and difficulties, it may be more likely for us to see God as our strength and sufficiency because we have nowhere else to run to. However, when things are going well, we are often tempted to fall into spiritual complacency and give credits to ourselves. The Bible tells us that our heart is most in danger of drifting away from God under the sunshine of prosperity and perceived success. There is no such a thing as a “self-made Christian.”
Today, as we fast from the things that we normally depend on, ask God for an awareness of self-sufficiency in our lives. Return to the heart of humble worship. Acknowledge and give thanks to God for everything we have. Whether in prosperity or in lack, may we always strive to live under the deep awareness of God’s grace. May we, as a church, never drift away from our dependence on God.
Prayerful Reflection +
- What are areas of your life that you are most tempted to attribute glory and success to yourself? What shapes and forms does self-sufficiency look like in your own life?
- As a church, how must we on-guard against drifting away from God? Are we constantly seeking God to reveal areas of pride and blindness?
- What must we be grateful to God for? How can we grow in our awareness of our own weaknesses, and delight in the sufficiency of God’s grace? How is God revealing His favour for RHC, and how must we respond?
Friday Afternoon
31 January
Pray +
For our heart to desire more of God, that we may find our contentment and satisfaction in who He is in our lives.
Read and Meditate +
And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.
And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
(Luke 11:5-13)
Consider +
This passage contrasts a reluctant friend who said “yes” with a heavenly Father of “how much more” who gladly outgives us beyond what we can imagine. The problem is, the ending of this parable may seem underwhelming to us. After all, when we seek God for bread, fish and egg, these are all that we are caught up with.
Our hearts are too occupied with chasing our fleeting desires to fully comprehend the surpassing worth of the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are too easily contented with material things that meet our temporal needs, and too blinded to the true predicament of our spiritual poverty.
However, our blindness and unawareness do not prevent the good heavenly Father from doing the ultimate good to us. He gave us the greatest gift of Himself. This is what the gift of the Holy Spirit means—that God is in us and with us. The question remains, how can the holy presence of a holy God dwells in sinful vessels? That brings us back to the greatest news ever once again.
Jesus gave His life for us on the Cross that we may be cleansed and made worthy. The gift of the Holy Spirit cannot be received by us without the sacrifice of the Son of God. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. May our hearts always be amazed by this, and long for God’s presence in our lives above all things.
Prayerful Reflection +
- What are the “bread, fish and egg” of your prayer life? What do they reveal about your faith and relationship with God?
- How grateful are we towards Jesus for what He has done for us? How much do we long for God’s presence in our life?
- How can we, as a church, constantly redirect our gaze from things that are temporal to things that will last for eternity? How can we grow to seek first God’s Kingdom and long more hungrily for the Holy Spirit?
- What are some things that the Holy Spirit is impressing on you to seek and ask God, for the sake of His Kingdom?