You do not know what tomorrow will bring

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—¹⁴ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

James 4:13–17

Introduction

Everyone has witnessed a braggart in action, and it’s ugly. The loudmouth at the cocktail party that rambles on about success in business and his future plans. In the world of online social media, it’s seen through the “humble brag”—a sort of false humility that boasts achievement to the world, veiled subtly enough so the bragger can avoid guilt or shame. Though we often can spot this kind of pride in others, rarely do we see it in ourselves.

Pride is thinking more of myself than I ought. This text places our temptation to pride before the face of God. When we see who God is, compared to what we are, there’s no other option other than humility. Before Almighty God, we are but a vapor. Here today, and gone tomorrow.

The truth is no one has ever perfectly modeled humility other than Jesus himself. Jesus’ heart was one of service to God and others as he submitted to the Father’s will. Jesus was perfectly empowered by the Holy Spirit, and that same Spirit resides in the hearts of all believers. We too have the opportunity to walk in humility as Jesus walked.

Observation

• In verse 13, who is making plans? What do they think they know? In verse 14, what do they not know?
• How is life described in this passage?
• In comparison to verse 15, what is missing in verse 13?
• Arrogance means “an offensive display of superiority or self-importance; 
overbearing pride.” According to verse 16, what is evil? Why?
• According to verse 17, what is sin for a particular person?
• In summarizing this passage, what are the four responses to God’s will?

Interpretation

This passage in no way advocates sloppy life-planning. Rather, it’s an attack on how trust in our own resources and talents becomes a sort of functional atheism. Planning is wise, but we plan while humbly acknowledging that God is the sustainer of life, not our money, resources, or abilities.

• Proverbs 16:9 present as an alternative to self-rule. What is it?
• Read Acts 18:21 and 1 Corinthians 4:19. In these passages, Paul makes plans for the future, but with a qualification. What is that qualification, 
and what might that say about Paul’s character?
• James 4:17 is a joining verse between this passage and the next. It can be 
seen as a universal statement that we are to act with integrity and obedience by doing what we know to be right. In his parables, Jesus frequently taught against sins of omission, which are sins we commit by not doing what we know to be right. Read Matthew 25:14–30 and Luke 10:29–37. What sins of omission do you see in these passages?
• Knowing that we will fail to do the right thing at all times, what do James 4:6 and 10 remind us?

Application

• Do you desire to do the will of God? Psalm 37:23–24 encourages us that when we delight in God’s way, the Lord establishes our steps. Is there anything in your life that keeps you from desiring the will of God?
• Psalm 143:10 encourages us to pray for the knowledge of God’s will. Do you know what God has for you to do? How do you seek the Lord for him to reveal his will to you? Pray together according to Colossians 1:9–10.
• We often have several choices that seem in line with what God could be directing us to do, but we don’t know what is truly his will. We feel stuck, or we want to move along with our own will. Scripture reminds us to wait on the Lord so that he will deliver, direct, and renew us. What is it like for you to wait on the Lord?
• Sometimes we know what God’s will is, and we do not want to obey because it seems too hard, or we have to give up something we’d rather not. Do you believe that God will provide for you as you trust in him? Whatever change God may be calling you to is of infinitely higher value than the cost of what you long to hold on to. Do you believe this? Why or why not?
• Read Proverbs 3:5–8. Through the course of this study, have you felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit in something specific in your life? Is it possible that you have trusted in your own understanding of that situation, not God’s? How might you rest in God’s plan for your life going forward?
• Read John 16:33. In the context of this passage, Jesus is addressing various trials that will come upon the disciples, but that they can take heart because he has overcome the world. Be encouraged today that despite your plans, and whether or not they work out, he has overcome the world!

For further study

Consult C. J. Mahaney’s article “Biblical Productivity.” For further study on the sins of omission, read the parable of the sheep and goats. For further study on God’s grace in the battleground of our hearts, read Romans 7:14–25. 

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