James 4:13-15, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’ ”
People of God, what position does God occupy when it comes to how you plan? Many of us constantly map out our daily lives with our decision-making – some trivial plans, others fundamental – from the meals we prepare, to the frequency of our leisure and fitness activities, to the business opportunities we want to pursue. As Christians, our confidence is that God has good plans for our lives – to prosper us and not to harm us, to give us hope and a future, as it says in Jeremiah 29:11.
The question is, do you occupy God’s position when it comes to your plan? There is nothing more dangerous than assuming God’s position in your plan – that is the sure route to that plan’s eventual downfall. Those who fail to place their plans in God’s hands are placing themselves on the path toward failure. If you fail to include God in your plans, you are planning to fail.
This does not mean that Christians should not make plans, but make plans with the awareness that your life is in God’s hands. Make plans from a position of submission to the Master Planner whose ways are higher than ours, whose plans are bigger than ours.
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, I surrender myself to Your good, pleasing and perfect Will. Help me to avoid the trap of making decisions without reference to You so that I will see your glory in my life’s story. In Jesus’ Name, amen.