JAMES 4:13-14-15
"Look here, you who say, today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog, it is here for a little while and then it is gone. What you ought to say is, IF THE LORD IS WILLING, we will do this or do that!"
Have you planned out your whole life? Do you know who you will marry and how many children you will have? What kind of job or profession will you enter? Where will you live and what kind of home will you have? How long will you live and what will be your cause of death? You may have plans or goals for the future, but they are just that. Whenever we make a plan or set a goal for the future we had better include the fact that it must be IF THE LORD IS WILLING!
No one knows what will happen tomorrow. How many times have you been surprised by the events that dramatically changed your life? If you look back you will see that you are not in control of this world. What is the real nature of our life? We are but a vapor, a fog, a puff of smoke that is visible for a little while and then disappears in to thin air. Life, fame and fortune are fleeting, here for a little while and then gone.
What we ought to say about tomorrow and our future plans is, IF THE LORD IS WILLING WE WILL DO THIS OR THAT THING. This is a simple acknowledgement that the Lord God is in control of our world and only if our plans are in concert with His Will they happen. We can not predict the future and we must not be presumptuous or full of self conceit and boasting. So when you are making plans for the future make sure that you add, GOD WILLING!
