Bible Verse: “Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.” James 4:14
Scripture Reading: James 4:13-16
How are all the plans you have made for life doing right now? COVID-19 has dramatically changed almost every plan most of us had put in place. Travel, financial, business, and other personal plans are all up in the air.
When this happens, many women and men feel a sense of being lost – coming to the quick recognition that life is not in our control. Others shrug their shoulders with a sense of indifference of “it is what it is.” But James 4 gives us a third way to look at our plans.
In James 4:14, we are told that we do not know what tomorrow will bring, and are we ever experiencing this truth right now! From God’s perspective, in the grand story of eternity, our lives are like a mist that appears and then vanishes. While our lives all have value, we are not as important as we like to think we are. All our plans are completely at the mercy of God.
This does not mean we should avoid making plans. Verse 15 teaches us to make plans but make them surrendered to the will of the Lord Jesus. Live in the reality that our plans can only happen if the Lord allows them to. When our plans need to change, it means God has a different idea.
Here is the third way to look at how much your plans have changed: You are in the adventure of life and you were planning to go down certain paths, but now you have experienced some significant roadblocks. Your adventure is not over; it is simply taking an unexpected turn. This is not the end of the story. Look to God. Trust God. Make new plans.
Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”
— Kirk Giles, President, Promise Keepers Canada