James 4:13-17
The will of the Lord is to be acknowledged and embraced as the condition under which we plan and live out our lives.
- Arrogant people plan and live out their lives as if they know the future.
“Our default view is that once we plan something, it will happen. James throws a cup of cold water in our faces. We don’t know what will happen. None of us do. We need to factor that into our view of the future.” —Sam Allberry
- Godly people plan and live out their lives embracing God’s purposes and plans.
“This should be interpreted neither as a pious addendum to be repeated mindlessly nor as an expression of fatalism that excuses us from taking responsibility for our actions.” —Blomberg and Kamell
“James is not against planning; he is warning us against planning that does not acknowledge the Lord’s sovereign overruling of our lives. The godly response is to plan in a way that recognizes and remembers we are not in ultimate control, and that all we plan and conceive is subject to the will of God. He is sovereign; we (for all our busy planning) are not. Our attitude is to be one that is informed and shaped by this reality. All we do is in the hands of God. “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps” (Proverbs 16:9) I am not the master of my own destiny, the captain of my soul. My life is not the unchanging center of the universe. I am like fleeting mist, and I am not in control of the world’s direction, nor of when I vanish.” —Sam Allberry
The will of the Lord is to be acknowledged and embraced as the condition under which we plan and live out our lives.