"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 and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." James 4:13-17
We seem to have a "planning" epidemic in our modern world today. Situations like: "Your 5 year plan is to be living in the big city in a high rise luxury apartment" .....OR..... "Planning your vacations even a year or two in advance" .....OR..... "Scheduling Christmas day down to the exact minute since you have to fit in visiting your step-mom, father-in-law and your grandparents - having multiple dinners in one day" .....OR...... "Planning on being a millionaire by the time you are 30 years old." These are all ambitious plans and they might not be a bad thing, they might actually come true but what is God's plan for your life? Did you pray and consult Him before you made these plans?
You see, that's the thing about free will - we can make decisions in our life that might not be what the Lord wanted us to do and we might even actually go through with those plans successfully but what could have happened if you had stayed with the Lord's plan? I believe that God knows ahead of time when we will make the wrong decision & sometimes I'm sure that He uses that to teach us a lesson. God is All-knowing, All-powerful, Almighty and All-loving - He will never leave us even after a bad decision - He will guide us back onto His path - all you have to do is listen and act.
When I read "You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" I think of Niagara Falls. Words cannot describe the power and massiveness of those immense falls. When I visited Niagara Falls we took a "Tour Behind the Falls" - they have built a tunnel through the rock and you come out kind of to the side but behind the falls - it is breathtaking. Even though they provide heavy duty rain jackets for visitors to wear - you still get wet. I remember the cooling and soothing mist amidst the force of gushing water. While the bulk of the water was rushing and rumbling way up high away from me, underneath was a gentle mist slowly floating by and moistening my face. Our life is like that mist - life is so short - let's spend every second of our time on earth doing God's will.
Are we sinning if we don't do God's will? In the featured verses above it says: "Anyone, then who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins" - that's powerful! The sin comes in the "knowing" - if you do NOT realize that something is "good" (or that something is God's will for your life) - then it is NOT a sin. However, if you push that truth down & AVOID, DENY & IGNORE that God is urging you to do something - then that is a sin.
Are we sinning if we don't do God's will? In the featured verses above it says: "Anyone, then who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins" - that's powerful! The sin comes in the "knowing" - if you do NOT realize that something is "good" (or that something is God's will for your life) - then it is NOT a sin. However, if you push that truth down & AVOID, DENY & IGNORE that God is urging you to do something - then that is a sin.
Are you using your time wisely and doing the Lord's will during our misty life on earth?
Oooo good words and thoughts to ponder. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAmen! My family is in the middle of "planning" a big change. And in the midst of this planning we have learned a few things. One thing we have learned is to pray that God change our heart's desires to match His will for our life. Another is to have Him shut doors and keep them closed if what is beyond those doors are not His will. You are right. There is no point in planning if God isn't the creator of the plan.
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