Taking it One Day at a Time
How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? 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.” (James 4:14-15)
Recently I returned home from spending a week at my daughter’s house caring for her and her family as she had injured her foot. Knowing I had to go back in another week, I began to plan for the week I was home to catch up on things I had to take care of before leaving again, even though I was tired and probably should take a couple days to rest. Well, it turned out with the bad weather we had that affected me physically, I ended up spending the first couple days home resting after all. Not my plan, but maybe God’s plan to utilize it for me to rest as He can see more than I can and I am not always one to listen when someone says “rest”. I will add, this isn’t the first time this has happened where I needed rest but would plan to keep moving, only to have no choice but to rest due to illness or plans falling through. Someday I will learn!
How many times have you planned things in advance? Perhaps it was a vacation, a get together with friends or family, a new job, to make a major purchase or a move, etc. We all do it because it’s a part of life. The Bible talks about good planning because it can be essential for our lives. We are to save financially, plant seeds so we can harvest the food when it is ready, plan for the day to care for our families, etc. But according to James, we have to be careful not to plan without including God because it falls under boastful arrogance when we believe we can plan for things as though we know what the future will hold. Only God knows what the future holds for us and He is the one who determines our coming and going and what we do.
Proverbs 16:9 states: We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.
I had an aunt that used to say “I will do this or that tomorrow, the next day, etc, God willing”. She had the right idea. If it is God’s will, I will do these things. A better way of planning is to pray about your plans and say “If God wills, I will do this or that”. You have no way of knowing how your finances will be in the next year, nor your health, job situation, etc, but God does know and you can rely on Him to help you make proper plans that will be right for you and your family. Whatever you are planning for, include God so He can guide you in the right direction.
Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed. (Proverbs 16:3)