Dr. Tan Tek Seng

DAILY REFLECTION

12 Dec 2025

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭9‬ ‭

God calls His people to make plans prayerfully, not by clinging to their own desires, but by seeking His leading and trusting His higher purposes.

Jonah, a prophet, was called to go to Nineveh and deliver a message of repentance. However, driven by fear and prejudice for the Ninevites, he devised his own plan to flee in the opposite direction to Tarshish. He was convinced he could chart his own direction and escape the uncomfortable assignment God had given him.

The storm that stopped Jonah was no accident—it was divine intervention. The belly of the great fish became a holy place of surrender, where Jonah learned that God’s purposes cannot be thwarted. In that hidden place, Jonah discovered that our ways, no matter how determined, are never greater than His.

When Jonah finally entered Nineveh, he did so not as a flawless prophet but as a humbled servant, reshaped by grace. And even then, God continued His work—teaching Jonah compassion, correcting his heart, and showing that divine purpose is not only about the mission we fulfill, but the character He forms within us.

Jonah’s story reminds us that when we yield our lives to God, we step into a purpose far beyond anything we could design ourselves. His ways are higher, His wisdom deeper, and His love greater than all we could imagine.

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." - Corrie ten Boom