Trusting God when Plans Change
James 4:13-15
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—
14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” [1]
Do we daily lay our plans before the Lord? What matters most--- What we WILL or what God WILLS?
The week we came back from the evacuation, we sat down with the staff. I have a whiteboard in the conference room of the office. It contained a large list of items that we had planned to do for the summer. The list included camps, VBS, Sports Camp, etc… I looked at that list and then thought of the scripture from James and the following verse from Proverbs 16:9. It says, “In his heart, man plans his way, but the Lord directs/establishes his steps.”
After erasing the list and starting again from scratch, I pondered the words of James 4 and Proverbs 16. The Bible does not teach that we should avoid planning. In fact, Proverbs 21:5 says, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.” It is important for us to plan well. My father always taught me the importance of planning. He was trying to help me see that planning can be preventive and save you problems/heartache down the road. I believe James 4 and Proverbs 16 are about trusting God. Do you trust God, even when things change? Do you boast about tomorrow or do you say I trust God, who holds tomorrow in His hands? Through the fires and the floods, God wants us to trust Him. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but God does. Our plans fall short, but His Will is perfect. Even when things are hurtful and painful, God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. God is always working from a greater perspective. Let us trust His unseen hand to comfort us, guide us and establish our steps.
Together, Trusting God,
Pastor Todd
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—
14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” [1]
Do we daily lay our plans before the Lord? What matters most--- What we WILL or what God WILLS?
The week we came back from the evacuation, we sat down with the staff. I have a whiteboard in the conference room of the office. It contained a large list of items that we had planned to do for the summer. The list included camps, VBS, Sports Camp, etc… I looked at that list and then thought of the scripture from James and the following verse from Proverbs 16:9. It says, “In his heart, man plans his way, but the Lord directs/establishes his steps.”
After erasing the list and starting again from scratch, I pondered the words of James 4 and Proverbs 16. The Bible does not teach that we should avoid planning. In fact, Proverbs 21:5 says, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.” It is important for us to plan well. My father always taught me the importance of planning. He was trying to help me see that planning can be preventive and save you problems/heartache down the road. I believe James 4 and Proverbs 16 are about trusting God. Do you trust God, even when things change? Do you boast about tomorrow or do you say I trust God, who holds tomorrow in His hands? Through the fires and the floods, God wants us to trust Him. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but God does. Our plans fall short, but His Will is perfect. Even when things are hurtful and painful, God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. God is always working from a greater perspective. Let us trust His unseen hand to comfort us, guide us and establish our steps.
Together, Trusting God,
Pastor Todd
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