Passage to Ponder: James 4:13-17
Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? -James 4:13-14
Palm Sunday was a challenging day in my family. The quarantine blues and sense of helplessness engulfed several members of the household. I must admit I am feeling some of those same emotions. I wonder if we will be able to freely travel again by summer. Normally, I already have summer vacation travel plans, family visits outlined, and lodging reservations in place by this time. Am I going to spend a few days rejuvenating my soul while my feet soak in the warm Gulf of Mexico waters on the Texas coast? That is a place where I can be alone with God and allow my soul to “get grounded” again.
I know we aren’t the only ones cancelling plans and struggling with all of this. But, at this moment, I particularly feel the weight of it all. I have known all through this quarantine that I can’t fix these problems. Now, the helpless feelings drive home the reality that I can’t fix these problems. As a husband and father, I want to protect my family and step in front of the bullets—but I can’t. Are you as depressed reading these things as I am writing them? Now, here is the turning point. I’m not supposed to stop the bullets. I’m not supposed to fix these problems. That is God’s job!
James, the brother of Jesus, wrote that our plans can be overruled by God’s plans. He writes in verses 15-16, “What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’ Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.” The 17th verse just seems to dangle there at the end of James 4 as an afterthought: “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” Yet, this last verse is the key to applying all that James is saying.
Let me give you my own paraphrase from the LGV (Larry Griffith Version), “Don’t you think it is a bit arrogant to think that you control your plans? You need to realize that God’s plan trumps your plan. Now you know to think you are in control of the future is wrong. You also know you ought to trust in God’s perfect plans. If you know you should trust the future to God and won’t do it, that is a sin. So, start trusting God like you are supposed to!”
Will you pray with me?
“Lord, this quarantine stuff is more challenging than I thought. Forgive me for thinking and acting like I have this under control. The reality is that I don’t, but You do have all this under control. I need You to help me and my family be at peace in You and to stop worrying about the future. Your plans are better than anything I could come up with if I could see the future like You can. So, help me to trust You. Help me to lead my family to trust You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!”
I know we aren’t the only ones cancelling plans and struggling with all of this. But, at this moment, I particularly feel the weight of it all. I have known all through this quarantine that I can’t fix these problems. Now, the helpless feelings drive home the reality that I can’t fix these problems. As a husband and father, I want to protect my family and step in front of the bullets—but I can’t. Are you as depressed reading these things as I am writing them? Now, here is the turning point. I’m not supposed to stop the bullets. I’m not supposed to fix these problems. That is God’s job!
James, the brother of Jesus, wrote that our plans can be overruled by God’s plans. He writes in verses 15-16, “What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’ Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.” The 17th verse just seems to dangle there at the end of James 4 as an afterthought: “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” Yet, this last verse is the key to applying all that James is saying.
Let me give you my own paraphrase from the LGV (Larry Griffith Version), “Don’t you think it is a bit arrogant to think that you control your plans? You need to realize that God’s plan trumps your plan. Now you know to think you are in control of the future is wrong. You also know you ought to trust in God’s perfect plans. If you know you should trust the future to God and won’t do it, that is a sin. So, start trusting God like you are supposed to!”
Will you pray with me?
“Lord, this quarantine stuff is more challenging than I thought. Forgive me for thinking and acting like I have this under control. The reality is that I don’t, but You do have all this under control. I need You to help me and my family be at peace in You and to stop worrying about the future. Your plans are better than anything I could come up with if I could see the future like You can. So, help me to trust You. Help me to lead my family to trust You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!”
Love,
Pastor Larry
Pastor Larry
(This is from a series of devotionals written during our time of restricted meetings and activities due to the coronavirus.)
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