James 4:15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
The verse indicates that God has plans for each of us. This verse is a strong argument against those who argue that God does not know the future or have a plan for each of our lives. This verse does not say that God will force His will upon us. The emphasis here is to come to God in humility and trust in order to rest our lives peacefully in God’s will. This will require faith to discover God’s will. The problem is that we humans try to act as God and direct our own lives. Most of the time, this is through our own schemes, desires, and passions, all of which can send us away from God and into the world. Being humble before God will open us to listen to God and understanding God’s will for us. Our lives are uncertain. At any moment, any of our lives can end. My wife and I have dreamed of mountain property. We do not know if this dream will ever become a reality. We were just talking this week that if God were to so bless us, that would be wonderful, but we do not know if this dream will ever happen. We must say, “If it is God’s will, someday we can have a view of the mountains.” But if not, we must be satisfied with wherever God leads us. It is relatively easy to say this with the big things, like a mountain cabin, but it becomes more difficult with the day to day things that we fill our calendars with. The bottom line is that we must learn to trust our lives into God’s care with humility and faith.
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