![[Photo of a Scripture verse]](https://www.deankwilson.com/Blog_images/James_4_15.jpg)
| Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” |
| —James 4:15 |
I spoke recently with a friend who loves to plan. This dear one lives by the calendar daybook she carries in her attaché case. Her daybook is somewhat unique in that it covers five years in advance. Remember, I said she likes to plan.
One time, when I was teaching a class on “Time Management,” she showed me her daybook. Every entry was neatly entered in very precise lettering. She had used eight different color codes to group her entries into the following categories: work appointments, personal appointments, work deadlines, personal deadlines, holidays, vacation days, family time, and work trips. At a glance, she could look forward as many weeks, months, even years, and tell you exactly what she expected to do at any given moment. Now that’s planning!
But, for the follower of Jesus, we know that as much as we might like to plan our lives—although some people hate planning and would rather live by “whim and fancy”—we really have little actual control over our lives. Just yesterday, I sat down at the computer keyboard to write an outline for a training class I’m leading. Before I could even begin, I had to answer three phone calls, one of which took 20 minutes to resolve the issue at hand. I then received four emails that required my immediate attention. By the time I got back to the outline I needed to write, several hours of time had passed.
The Apostle James offered the early Christians these wise words, as found in James 4:13-17:
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.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
That’s very good advice for us, as we launch into another new day. Let’s recognize that it is God who sets our pathway. He will open up the day for us. Yes, we should still make good use of our time. And, part of that good effort is the stewardship of our time that we can achieve through thoughtful planning. But, when God sends an interruption our way, we should graciously stop what we are doing and cheerfully attend to whatever He wants us to share with the person interrupting us. That encounter may be just the opportunity that God has given us to say a word in His behalf.
