Tell God Your Plans

Someone has said, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.” I think James has a warning for us concerning that. “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. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.’” James 4:14,15.

In the Christian life, we need to live with a balance of trusting the Lord for whatever lies ahead and doing what we can to plan our own future. Hopefully, we plan it within the will of God. Maybe the parents of Moses, Amram and Jockebed can give us an example in this? In Exodus chapters one and two we find Israel at one of its lowest points in all its history. (At least humanly speaking) They are slaves in the land of Egypt. As their numbers grew Pharaoh and his leadership began to fear these people. To help alleviate the numbers Pharaoh told the midwives, “If it is a boy, kill him.” Exodus 1:16. Because the midwives “feared God” they would not do this. So, a further decree is issued by Pharaoh. “Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile.” Exodus 1:22. (Today we simply abort unwanted children) Amram and Jockebed did what they could to save their son. They hid him for a time, they built the basket, they placed him in the water, they watched him from afar, but ultimately the child was in the hands of God. They knew they had done all they could. They did what they could for their son, now the will of God would tell the rest of the story.

The lesson is that we need to do the same. We must trust the Lord and believe that His wisdom is directing His will for our lives. For Moses it was a happy ending. Jockebed became the first welfare mother, getting paid to raise her own child. We might want a similar ending for everything in our lives, but the reality is that that is not always what God has in mind. In Acts chapter 12 we can read how God delivered Peter from his captives, but James was martyred. Why? Was God only capable of saving the one? Do you suppose the family of James asked that question? I don’t have the answer about the family of James, but I know that with God “nothing is impossible.” It is simply that God has a plan, God has a purpose, and God has a program for each of us. Peter had more work to do, James’ work here was complete. What bothers us is that God does not reveal to us whether that plan includes pain and sorrow, or victory and triumph. In general, we all experience times of both.

What we must do is believe that God will provide for us, whatever is necessary, at the time that it is needed, whether good or bad. And that’s on God’s timetable, not ours. I admit there have been times in my own life that I felt God had let me down. I felt He had not provided what I needed at the time I needed it. That’s how I felt, but deep in my heart I knew then and still know today that God loves me dearly and has never let me down. As we face whatever is ahead, whether trials and defeats or conquest and joy, let’s do this. Trust that God has our future in His loving hands and He knows what is best.