Reflecting the Image

Scripture:

James 4:13–16

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.” 14 Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. (NRSVUE)

Observation:

This passage is really about dependence. We become arrogant and boastful when we fail to recognize that our lives are dependent upon God and begin to believe that we control all the outcomes.

The people James describes have quite a plan. They know when they’re going, where they’re going, how long they’re staying, what they’re going to do, and what the result will be. “Today or tomorrow we will go… spend a year… do business… and make money.”

There is nothing inherently wrong with making plans. The problem is assuming that we control the outcome.

James reminds us of something much more fundamental: “You do not even know what tomorrow will bring.” Then he asks, “What is your life?” We are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Instead, James says we ought to live with a very different posture: “If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.”

Even our ability to carry out the plan begins with the gift of life itself.

Boasting in our own plans and abilities comes from a self-centered heart. We begin to imagine that we are the masters of our own lives. James calls that arrogance and reminds us that everything begins with dependence upon God.

Application:

A number of years ago, I was meeting with a group of very successful Christian business people. There was an “aha” moment in the conversation. They were talking about their hard work, how they planned, what came together, and then the great success they experienced. Admittedly, these people had skills and had worked hard, but there was something else that had happened in their lives—and most of them recognized it.

They had been in the right place at the right time.

Their skills alone had not produced their success. The difference between an okay career and a super-successful career included circumstances that were simply beyond their control. I was impressed that most of them were willing to acknowledge this truth.

By nature, I’m a planner. I was raised by a mother whose mantra was, “Plan your work, and work your plan.” My mother was like the Energizer Bunny—she could get more done than anyone I know. I like to plan and get things done, and I can easily get caught in the trap of imagining how all the details ought to play out.

If you can imagine, I’ve run all those scenarios related to retirement planning! One of my brothers has a multi-factor spreadsheet with all the options laid out.

Yes—we like to plan.

And there’s nothing wrong with planning. The danger comes when our plans quietly become our security and we begin to imagine that because we’ve planned carefully, we control what happens next.

We don’t.

An accident. An illness. An unexpected opportunity. A door opening that we never knew existed. Life can change in one big hurry.

James reminds me that I’m already a mist. None of us knows how long we will be here. I always thought my mother would live to at least 100. She died at 95, having lived an amazing life—but none of us is promised a long life.

So, what are we boasting about?

I do want to plan for retirement someday, but I don’t want my plans to become my boasting or my security. I want to live life now, and I want to live it for Christ. I can make my plans while holding them with open hands:

“If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.”

That’s not passivity. We still plan. We still work. We still use the gifts God has given us.

But we do all of it from a posture of dependence.

If you’re tempted to boast today, stop for a moment and think about how that “thing” was actually accomplished. Think about the people who helped you, the circumstances you couldn’t control, the doors you couldn’t have opened yourself, and even the gift of another day in which to do the work.

Then give thanks.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for the opportunities of life. My life has been fuller than I could ever have imagined. There have certainly been right-place, right-time moments, and I thank You for allowing us to be there and to journey with You. Help me to make plans with open hands, trusting You with the things I cannot control. May my confidence never rest in what I can accomplish, but in You. Amen.