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.” (NIV)

Picture this with me: You wake up and realize it's Saturday morning. No work today; the world is your oyster. Where does your mind go next? One such morning in the Gilbert household, I asked my husband Sean what he had planned for the day. His response literally baffled me. He simply said, "I haven't thought about it."  

‍

I stared at him in complete incomprehension. Finally, I asked, quite sincerely, "You mean to tell me that you literally haven't even thought about how you plan to spend your day?" "Not really," he shrugged as he went out into the living room to drink a cup of coffee, entirely unconcerned about what he hoped his day would hold.  

‍

Friends, I honestly can't fathom living like that, much less getting my brain to stop the constant cycle of planning that plagues it. Maybe you have a similar gift to Sean, and your brain isn't constantly calculating how to best use your time. Sometimes, I wish I could turn this habit off!

‍

And while we might each have personality tendencies that set us on a path toward an approach to life that is either more like mine or more like Sean's, I don't think we can entirely peg my crazy brain on personality. At a point, it comes back to the question of who do I believe is ordering my day: my own wisdom, plans, and desires, or God’s?

James 4:13 warns of this kind of over-confident, self-absorbed, controlling fixation on ruling your own life: "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.'"  

‍

Yep, that's for sure something I would say. If I ignored the work of the Holy Spirit in my life, who I’m so thankful is trying to teach me a better way, my natural bent would for sure be to have an idea, make a plan, and ask God to get on board and bless it.  

‍

But here is James' frank rebuke to those of us who would believe we are the masters of our own fates: "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" (vs. 14).  

‍

It's a sober reminder, isn't it? There's a distinction to be aware of here, though. James isn't saying that making a plan to carry out a mission or being a wise steward of the time God has given us is bad. What he's warning us about is the arrogance that can come when we mistakenly believe that we are the ones in charge of ordering our days and our impact on this world.  

‍

Certainly, Jesus knew the plan to save humanity as the Spirit revealed it to him. He walked obediently toward that, strategically expanding his ministry to facilitate his mission. Jesus didn't live lackadaisically; he had a plan. But, in walking out that plan, he was entirely Spirit-led. James points to this kind of Spirit-led living in verse 15: "Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.'"  

‍

Which do you lean toward? Are you living lackadaisically, without direction and purpose? Ask God to direct your steps toward the impact that HE has planned for you today! Or, are you far too hyper-fixated on what YOU will do for the Kingdom? How you will accomplish it, what it will look like when God makes your vision happen. Friend, your life is but a mist. We don't get God on board with our agenda. We ask HIM to order our steps according to his perfect will and design, even if that means deviating from our own. Ask God to give you the grace, humility, and obedience to allow HIM to order your impact today!

Father God, I submit to you as THE authority of my life. Father, forgive me for those moments when I don't seek your will and direction and instead try to go my own way at my own speed. I ask you to give me the humility and grace to walk in step with your Spirit today. In Jesus' name, amen.