In 2020 I was reminded of James 4:13-16.
“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. 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. Instead you ought to say, If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that. As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.”
I think that many of us often forget about the verses in James 4:13-16. We often plan what the next day, week, or next month will look like. In 2020 many of us had plans of what we were hoping to do that year. But then because of covid our plans changed.
I am not saying that it is wrong to plan things in our lives. Some things require plans in order to move forward in life. But we can often forget to seek God’s will in these plans.
“In their hearts humans plan their steps, but the Lord establishes their steps.” – Proverbs 16:9
It can be hard to see what God’s plan is in sickness, death, and trials. But even in these things God has a plan.
James 4:14, tells us that we do not know what will happen tomorrow. Life often has a way of surprising us. What we think will happen tomorrow, a week from now, or a month from now, doesn’t always happen in the way that we expect.
James 4:15, tells us that we should say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As we move on from the year of 2020, I think that it is important to remember these verses in James, especially verse 4:15. If it is God’s will we will move there, and get the job that we are hoping for. If it is not God’s will then something better will come. It is also important to remember that sometimes it is God’s will, but not his timing.