His Plans, Your Plans

¹³ Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” ¹⁴ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. (James 4:13-17)

There’s nothing wrong with making plans. Even God has plans. But our plans often reveal the state of our hearts. Are you planning apart from God or because of God? People who do not know God make bold plans without realizing that they do not control their time, much as they would think they do. The truth is that time is not in our hands. Each day is a gift from God. Well, each hour and each second is a gift from God. None of us can assume a single second! If God allows us to live, then we must use it to glorify Him. But this is not possible unless we first surrender our lives to God. Our real problem is not so much that we don’t think about God; we just don’t think of Him enough. Our plans are simply signs of our arrogance, i.e. we think we are in control of our lives. But once you submit your life to God (which is the best thing you can do to make your life really secure in Him), and allow Him to reveal His plans for you (which are far better than yours), then you can make the necessary plans that can conform to His will. If you want to know more of His plans for you, start studying His word, the Bible.