Opening: One day, a young man saw a sign at a restaurant that said, "Free Lunch Tomorrow." The next day he brought his friends to have lunch at the restaurant. When they finished eating, a waiter came to him with the bill of $100 to pay. He was surprised and didn't want to pay. He said; I looked at that sign "Free Lunch Tomorrow" yesterday. So, today is free," he protested. But the waiter answered, "The sign said, 'Free Lunch TOMORROW,' not today. So, today, you have to pay!"
When we enter a new year, we usually make plans about what we want to do, which places we want to visit, or things we want to accomplish. We want the new year will be more productive and successful. Many people think that good things will happen in their lives if they're smart enough and disciplined enough. We live under the illusion that we'll be able to live the good life with the right strategy, the proper techniques, and enough discipline. In other words, we think we're in control of our lives. The reality? James says we are not in control of our lives. In his letter, James, the brother of Jesus, warns us in making plans or preparing our future. Let's read James 4:13-16.
There are three things that James warns in this passage:
1. Do not make plans without God. Look v. 13 – "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." James does not forbid us to make plans. The Bible is clear that planning is a good thing. And planning for the future is wise. Proverbs 6:6-8 praises the little ant who plans for his future. Proverbs 21:5 says, "The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty." Jesus not only taught us about planning to do things but also counted the cost or budgeting. Luke 14:28 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?"
So, why did James rebuke his readers who made plans? James rebukes them because they made plans without God; They didn't ask God for guidance or direction. They called themselves Christians, but they ignored God in their daily activities. Somebody said the biggest fool is not the man who says there's no God, but the man who says there is a God then doesn't live like it. Have you taken God into your plans?
2. Do not be overconfident in your life. James rebuked people who might think that they had control over their lives and believed that everything would go as they planned, and they acted like they could plan their lives when they didn't even have control over the next five minutes. Therefore, in v. 4, James says, "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."
James reminds us that life is uncertain and short. He compares us to a mist that appears for a time and vanishes. That was very common in the Palestinian climate, and water droplets in the air would form into condensation and then disappear. Our lives are like that. The house we live in will be home to someone else, and nobody will even remember that we lived there. Your job, if it even exists in the future, will belong to someone else. If we have them, our great-grandkids may not remember our names, and they will forget us. We don't know what tomorrow will bring.
A year ago, we hoped this pandemic would be behind us by now. Instead, the US shattered its record for new daily coronavirus cases this week. Experts warn that an omicron "blizzard" will disrupt our country further next month with a surge Dr. Fauci predicts will not peak until the end of January. We are already seeing a hospitalization surge among US children and restaurant closings, especially on the East Coast. I read the news a teacher who learned mid-flight that she had COVID-19 quarantined in the airplane's bathroom for four hours to protect the other passengers.
Proverbs 27:1 warns, "Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth." Many people who died last year might have thought that they were in good health or still young. They didn't know that last year was their final year. Say, "Lord God, I don't know what the future holds or how much more time I have. Remember the rich farmer in Luke 12:13-21 — "The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' 18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."' 20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
We should not think that we will live for many more years because we are in good shape, still pretty young, and wealthy. We never know. Last year on Thursday, May 6, Raditya Oloan, died while being treated in a hospital due to being exposed to the covid-19 virus. He was 37 years old. The good thing about him is that he was ready to meet God. He was an artist then became a youth minister. In one of his novels, Wendell Berry writes: "I can't look back from where I am now and feel that I have been very much in charge of my life …. I have made plans enough, but I see now that I have never lived by plan …. Nearly everything that has happened to me has happened by surprise. All the important things have happened by surprise. And whatever has been happening usually has happened before I had time to expect it …. And so when I have thought I was in my story or in charge of it, I really have been only on the edge of it, carried along. Is this because we are in an eternal story that is happening only partly in time?"
3. Do not be arrogant. There are some indications that they made plans without God and were overconfident because they were rich and arrogant. James warns them in chapter 4, verse 6: "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble." In verse 10, James tells them to – "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." And in verse 16, James openly rebukes them - "As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes, and all such boasting is evil."
Let's humble ourselves before God. When we plan, we admit that we do not have complete control of our lives and don't know what will happen tomorrow. Let's do what James says in V. 15 – "Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that."
Once again, James isn't against planning. But James says that our planning should always realize that God may have other plans. James is asking us to acknowledge our limitations — our ignorance, frailty, and dependence — and that God has the ultimate say about what will happen in our lives. We can trust God because he's good and He's sovereign.
Therefore, as we make plans this year, we should say, "If the Lord wills!" The author of numerous books, Kent Hughes, suggests: "If God wills" must be written over students' plans—the choice of a life partner, future education, all everyday activities. Older people need to say from the heart, "If God wills, I will spend my time … If God wills, my children will become … If God wills, I will take up this ministry … If God wills, I will wake up tomorrow." All of us should have this heart attitude."
It's only when we comprehend the sovereignty and goodness of God that we'll be able to handle the things we can't control because behind the seeming randomness of life is a God who is in control even when we aren't, even when life seems entirely out of control. Happy New Year! May God bless you and make you a blessing this year!!
