One of the books in my reading plan today was the gospel of Matthew. I thought that since I would be starting chapter 1 today and with chapter 1 being a genealogy, that it would be an otherwise uneventful read. Apparently, that wasn't God's plan. :)
Going through the genealogy, I began to realize a few things:
1. God has a perfect plan formed long before I was even born. Life is not a series of random choices and circumstances but rather a continuous list of divinely appointed events. He has a plan for each day of my life and His plans are always, always perfect and for my good. ( Deuteronomy 32:3-4, Psalm 139:16, Jeremiah 29:11).
2. God'a plan is so perfect and foolproof that it continues even through what may seem like difficult times. This truth jumped out at me as I was reading Matthew 1:11-12 where it says "...Josiah became the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon. After the deportation to Babylon Jeconiah became the father to Shealtiel..." and so on.
The time of the captivity and exile to Babylon was a consequence of the disobedience and stubborness of the people of God. It was a difficult time. Perhaps most of them even thought that They had already been abandoned by God. Now I know He never did. Even during this time He was carrying out His ultimate plan to save them. The encouragement for me when going through a modern day Babylonian exile of sorts-GOD'S PLAN IS STILL IN OPERATION.
Though there will be times when I have to suffer through the consequences of my sin, stubborness and disobedience, but this does not stop God's plan. I need to go through it to get refined and purified to make me ready for the rest of God's plan's unfolding.
3.God's plan may not always make sense to me in the beginning but it is always for my good. I need to summon up courage enough to obey when this happens. Looking at Joseph in Matthew 1:18-25 I find a perfect example. He does the right thing in choosing to stand by Mary (even if it most likely didn't make much sense to Him). As He chooses to obey God reveals to him His plan. Often times I foolishly want a glimpse of the plan first( to see if it aligns with my own) before I obey.
It'a simply amazing how God sometimes chooses to use the most unlikely things to speak to me. Who'd have thought? All these lessons from (of all things! ) a genealogy! God is truly, truly amazing!
