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.
We all love to make plans. “What are we going to do today?” “Where should we go on our trip?” “Where should we spend the weekend?” These would all be common questions in a family. It’s not wrong to make plans, but James wants us to think about it a bit differently.
One of the key differences between God and us is that God is infinite and we are finite. He is the Creator. He is eternal. We are not. We are his creation. We are temporal. Our physical bodies don’t last forever.
Because we don’t live forever and we are not the Creator, we can’t know the future. Only God does. Since we are not God and don’t know the future, we should be humble when it comes to making plans. We shouldn’t speak in such a way that makes us think that we are ultimately in control.
It’s OK to make plans. But as we do, we should remember that only God is sovereign over our lives. He is the one who is completely in control, not us. If things don’t work out as we planned, it’s OK. If we get derailed, we don’t have to be disappointed. We know that God will make all things work out in the end.
Read
The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
- Who is in ultimate control of our lives?
- Should we still plan our lives?
- What should we remember as we make our plans?
Pray
Father, thank you that we can trust you. Thank you that we can make our plans, knowing that you’re in control. Help us to be humble when things don’t work out as we planned. Help us to trust you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
This devotion is adapted from the James Study Guide. Pick up a copy today for only $9.99. The Study Guide includes a 15-week curriculum, a small group study, a group inductive study, as well as 75 daily devotions for your personal or family worship.
