Let the Lord Plan Your Life

“Look here, you people 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 will happen tomorrow? For 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 will be boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” (James 4:11-12, NLT).

In Proverbs 27:1 we read: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.” We do not know the number of our days. Neither can we know whether our plans will materialize. God alone knows and controls the future. With this knowledge securely in mind, we ought, therefore to let the Lord lay plans for our future. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told us not to worry about our life, what we should eat, drink, wear. After using the birds of the air and the lilies of the field as examples, He then said: “But seek first His kingdom, and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:33-34, NIV). An adage states: “Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.” Are we not to plan, then? Not to make any preparation for the future, such as an education to help us better do the work we are to do? Hardly that. But even in preparation for our life’s work, we take it a step at the time. We cannot worry and fret, nor boast. Prayer will be the springboard to guide us in the right way. Depend on God to lead, and at the same time be ready to serve willingly where He leads. The parts of the puzzle which is the future will then fall into place. James had the right advice, indeed, when he wrote: “If the Lord wants us to, we will do this or that.”

Life is like a fog which vanishes quickly away. Life is utterly dependent upon the sustaining power of God. Because of its brevity, how much more ought we to be within the parameters of God’s will and way. Psalm 23 is a good example of the believer’s dependence upon God. And watch the progression of what happens: whatever the need or situation, God is present and providing. Knowing to do good and not doing it is sin. This is what we often refer to as the “sin of omission.” When we make plans for the future, even though our plans are good, and fail to lay the whole matter before God, seeking His guidance and will, we are committing the sin of omission with a very important entity—our very life, its work, and its influence. God has numbered our days. How He would like to order our days as well, and bring fulfillment and purpose into our lives. God gave us talents and abilities for a purpose: to serve Him and others. Henry Blackaby in Experiencing God gave this advice for Christians: “Look to see where God is working and join Him in that work.” Be alert to God’s bidding; join Him and be blessed.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Sunday, October 24, 2010