James 4:13-15, “Come now you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit” – yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
Have you ever had a sudden change in your circumstances that turned events into a much better situation for you? A Romans 8:28 in your face experience? That is when God shows us, He is in control, and you matter to Him. A good business plan or reviewing one’s goals in life are always important, but God needs to be included and consulted in it all.
My brother and I sang a duet at my parent’s fiftieth wedding anniversary event: “I don’t know about tomorrow, I just live from day to day,” were the words in the song’s first two lines. The chorus was, “Many things about tomorrow, I don’t seem to understand; But I know who holds tomorrow; And I know who holds my hand.” The words of that hymn mean more to me today than it did then. It was written in 1950 by Ira F. Stanphil, an American gospel music composer and evangelist of the mid-twentieth century. Ira F. Stanphil had been a pastor in Orange, California. Then in the early 1940s, he was associate pastor of a church in Bakersfield, California. Ira became an evangelist and traveled throughout the United States and 40 other countries beginning in 1964. “Occasionally, as part of his crusades, he would ask members of the congregation to suggest titles for songs. Selecting one title from the suggestions, he would write words and music for a song during the service.” Wikipedia. This song, “I Don’t Know About Tomorrow” has stood out to me over the years and is so true.
The cross-reference verse of James 4:13 is Proverbs 27:1, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. Then in Psalms 118:24, the author declares, “This is the day the LORD has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Are you needing more of God’s joy today? Seek His face. Give Him praise for answers to prayers you have not received or seen yet. Never lose the wonder of what He is able to accomplish today and tomorrow.
“This was the custom of those ancient times; they traded from city to city, carrying their goods on the backs of camels. The Jews traded thus to Tyre, Sidon, Caesarea, Crete, Ephesus, Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, Rome, etc. And it is to this kind of itinerant mercantile life that St. James alludes.” (Clark). James criticized them for not putting into their business plan for the week, let alone a year, doing it all for God’s glory and for the kingdom’s extension. He didn’t see them praying about their business decisions and seeking God’s will in them. “Oh no, there was not a word about God in it, from beginning to end!” (Spurgeon). James’s intention was not to discourage adequate goals and planning, just not to neglect one’s reliance and dependence upon God – not allowing an independent attitude to occur. There are crucial decisions to be made every day that God’s wisdom and guidance needs to be asked for first. That wisdom is found in knowing and obeying God’s Word (Joshua 1:8).
Don’t worry about the future. The future is in God’s hands. We can plan ahead, but always put God at the center of those plans. Commit your day to God. Live for today. You are one day closer to Heaven than you were yesterday. What about tomorrow? Ask God to fill in that blank.
Listen to Matt Maher’s The Lord’s Prayer Lyric Video