Pr Joshua Yong

James 4:13-15 – “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.”

No one knows how tomorrow will unfold. We don’t know what challenges and difficulties tomorrow will bring. We simply don’t know the future.

Yet, very often we live and plan as if we can determine the future and how things will unfold according to our plans. Or perhaps it is the uncertainty of the morrow that leads us to try and control the future even more.

1. Consider Your Plans (v.13)

“Go to now” is a strong interjection that means “consider now.” This is a challenge. It is an urgent call to stop what we are doing and to reason, ponder and evaluate whether what we have been doing is good and right. Instead of mindlessly pursuing and rushing into the next endeavour or the next plan, the Bible tells us to stop and consider carefully.

The Bible first calls us to reflect upon our plans. These plans involve the place – “we will go into such a city,”;  the time – “continue there a year,”; the deed – “buy and sell”; and it concerns an aim – “get gain”. This is how people often make plans. They plan for the destination, they plan the time and what they want to do, and they think that at the end of their plan, they will get their desired outcome. Notice how the Bible says they are determined to get what they want and seek their will – “we will”.

While it is not wrong to plan, some Christians have been known to plan without any thought about God. God is not involved in their lives and the decisions they make. They plan and decide where they want to go, what they want to do and accomplish, and the time they want to do it. They use their own logic,weigh out the pros and cons, and determine the possible gain at the end of their plans. In their plans, they behave as if they can determine and control the outcome. Yet, the reality is that God is not in their plans.

The Bible tells us to stop planning in this manner – as if we can control and determine the future, without any thought about God in our plans. Instead, we are called upon to consider the brevity and the fragility of life.

2. Consider Your Life (v.14)

The problem with making our plans, with relying and depending on our plans is that we do not know what is on the morrow. We do not know how tomorrow will unfold. Therefore, we ought to surrender ourselves, our plans and our will to God. If we do not even know what tomorrow holds, it will be most foolish to think that we can determine what will unfold in a month’s or a year’s time. The Bible calls us to look at our lives the way God sees it.

The Bible declares that our life is a vapour.

When you boil water, have you noticed the water literally vaporising into thin air? It appears but for a moment and then it is gone. We do not know when it will disappear. This is the description the Bible uses to describe our life – “it is even a vapour.”

This description impresses upon our hearts the realisation that our lives are short and unpredictable. There is a limit to our years, months, days and hours. We would be foolish to think that we have plenty of time on our hands. Like vapour, life is so unpredictable and short – we never know when it will disappear and end. We have no control over when, where or how the vapour will float away and vanish into the air. We have tomorrow only because it is God’s will to give us each new day, and each new day must be lived for the Lord.

If this is the reality of life, then what should we do?

3. Consider Your Attitude (v.15)

The Bible tells us we must say, “if the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” “If the Lord will” is not a meaningless pithy saying. This verse does not mean that once we say these words, we can then go on and do what we want. So often, even though we say “if the Lord will,” we have already decided what we want to do.

What “if the Lord will” means is: “Only if the Lord wills it”, or “Only if the Lord desires it, we will live or do this or that.” This means that we will seek and only do what the Lord desires and what will please Him. The Lord’s will is revealed to us in His Word. It is not unclear or unknown.

We can plan, but only in accordance with what God has revealed. We plan in harmony with the will which God reveals. Have you surrendered and submitted your will to the Lord’s will? Do you seek His will regarding the place, the time, the endeavour and the goal?

To say, “if the Lord will” also means that we will submit the outcome unto the Lord. Even in our plans, when the outcome does not unfold according to what we have planned or what we want, we must remain contented in the Lord, knowing that God’s plans are always the best. Have you submitted the outcome of your pursuit to the Lord?

To say, “if the Lord will,” also means that we recognise that God is the one who has given us life and who continues to sustain our life. We recognise each day that God is the one who has given to us every new day. As God has given us life, God can also take that life away at any moment.

Will you live your life in the will of God? Will you submit your will to the Lord’s will? Will you live each day knowing that you have to be accountable for every moment that God has given to you?