IF IT IS THE WILL OF THE LORD WE WILL

Proclamation:

“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.'  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 4:13-15 (NIV)

Explanation:
James, the half brother of Jesus, wrote these Holy Spirit inspired words to the believers to help them correct their speech and their behavior.  Here, he urges them to be careful regarding how they speak about what they will do in the future.  He encouraged them to say, "If it be The Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."  He told them that they do not know what will happen in the future.  They cannot be sure that that they will even be alive at that future time.

Application:
At the end of each calendar year, we seem to get caught up in saying what we will do in the upcoming year.  We seem to forget that we really do not have control over the future, or if we will live to see it.  We need to remember that only "if it is in The Good Lord's will ..." would be a better way to begin any statement regarding our future plans.  The Bible says that every day always is a day for continually giving thanks to God. (Ephesians 5:20, Colossians 3:17, and Hebrews 13:15)  We should praise Him and thank Him for every day, and every week, and every month, and for every year that we are blessed to be alive.  Only God can make a day, (Genesis 1:1-5 and Psalms 118:24), and only God can sustain us through a day. (Psalms 55:22)  Let us not get so caught up in our future plans that we forget that only that which is in the will of The Lord God will occur.  Only He knows the future and what it holds for us.  We should praise and thank God daily for what He has done, is doing, and will do for us.