In chapter 4:13-15 James warns: “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’”
He’s got a good point. We can make all the plans we want, all for nothing. That last sentence is such a foundation to everything we do in life, at home, at work and in ministry. Really, our plans aren’t (or shouldn’t be) about us – after all, we are just a mist in the grand scheme of things. We know it’s possible to build something that lasts, that ends up being bigger than us. But that means setting aside “me” and picking up “God”; His purposes, His ideas, His plans. I think it’s a lot harder for us to do that than most of us are willing to admit. James didn’t tell us we shouldn’t make plans. He just warns us to keep them God-centered. To get out of and stay out of the way.
Whatever you’ve got planned today, tomorrow, next week, and if you are really with it, next month and year, submit and commit it to the Lord right now. That’s Who we’re doing all of this for anyway, right?
Photo credit, infinityNANO
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One response to “Demystifying Our Plans”
Planning must always be held in tension with….”I have many more things to share with you that you are not now able to bear” (John 16) The Holy Spirit not only knows the will and ways of God; but He is thoroughly aware of your calling, the gait and pace of your life, and what you can bear as well as what you will grow to bear.
Often the Lord only reveals enough for us to awaken the “yes” of our faith to. And as we walk out that “light” He shows more