“If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:15
James is a practical man as he writes his book. If you want to get some practical advice for your daily living, read this little book. In the paragraph that contains the above verse, James has talked about making plans for the future. Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.
Most of us will make plans for the future and will expect to accomplish what we plan. Planning is certainly a legitimate activity. But why does James seem to downgrade it. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.
There is more to the statement than meets the eye at first look. How true it is that we don’t know what will happen tomorrow. We are not even sure what will happen today. Tomorrow may never come for us. You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
It is not that James doesn’t want us to plan for tomorrow. It is not that he forbids advanced planning. What he really wants is for us to realize that tomorrow is the Lord’s and we must never make plans without Him in mind. You ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
Making plans for tomorrow or next week or next year is only as secure as our plans for including God in them. Any success that we might have tomorrow will depend on whether the Lord gives us tomorrow. If tomorrow never comes then what? Will we be in relationship with Jesus that will sustain us if tomorrow never comes. Planning with God in mind just makes sense in our world of insecurity and uncertainness. It is good and right to say we will do this and that tomorrow IF THE LORD WILL.