Are you a planner? Organized?
Is it a great feeling, right? If you are wired that way, to have that planner complete, and you know what is coming up in your schedule.
There is nothing wrong with planning but, in James 4: 13-16, he gives us wisdom about what our mindset should be when it comes to the future.
“Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise, you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.” (NLT)
In a nutshell, James is telling us that we are not in charge of our lives.
We should not set a hard and fast schedule. We can plan, but we must be mindful that God can change our plans.
James is telling us that we should not boastfully declare our own destination, determine our own limits, arrange our own agenda, and predict our own outcome. We have to remember that it can
change in the twinkling of an eye.
Kind of like this pandemic. I am sure you did not plan for the last 6-8 weeks being at home. COVID-19 has changed a lot of our plans.
This is why we should never boast about our plans, but be a wise steward of our time.
Planning helps us to organize our days so that we can be effective followers of Christ. In that planning, we know that we try our best to plan our days as the Lord leads. However, we do not always get it right. We can’t see the future. We do our best, and God will always move things around as He pleases.
Because He is going to do that anyway, we should accept it. He knows best. He knows the future. He knows what He wants for your life. He is a good God. We have nothing to fear.
“Lord, help me as I plan the remainder of this week. Help me to remember that I am not in charge, you are”
If you were encouraged by reading this click here to check out Part 1
