So what is your plan? I know. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Remember, “Any plan will work if you work the plan.” I also remember someone saying, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” Or as Solomon put it, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart. But it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:21).
After James called the people to heart-felt repentance, washing their hands, purifying their hearts, and turning from slander, he called them to account for presumption. Some had planned out their future. They would go somewhere, spend a year, carry on business, and make money. What was wrong with that? The next day was not promised to them. Their lives were temporary like the mist in the morning. So are our lives. We must not presume on the Lord’s will.
Planning is not inherently wrong. But it is always better to surrender to God’s will than to plan presumptuously. If it is the Lord’s will, we will live. Let the chickens hatch before you count them. We are God’s masterpiece created to do good works which he planned in advance for us to do. God is not playing, “Hide and seek.” No. He says, “Seek and you will find.” No wonder Jim Elliot prayed, “Your will Lord. Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing else.”
