How Shouldn’t We Plan For The Future? (Virtual Sermon Notes)
GIST: Don’t try to live this life without reference to God’s sovereignty and miss out on His perfect purpose!
SCRIPTURE: James 4:13-16
Last week, we had our first parking lot service. It was a blessing to have at least a portion of our services in the same vicinity ☺️. Truthfully, a few weeks ago, when they first started discussing the gradual reopening of churches, I didn’t think we’d be back together like that until this week at the earliest. As I considered that, and looked ahead to which passage we’d probably be in at that point, I could think of few passages more fitting for current circumstances. As James has been calling us to live of real and vibrant faith, he’s been contrasting God’s wisdom and purposes with our sinful arrogance. The passage we’re coming to today, then breaks that down in the context of making plans for the future. Guys, let’s be real. In a way more prevalent than most of us have ever experienced, at least on this global of a level, we have come face to face with just how little control we really have over our lives. For many, this realization hasn’t been a welcome one. And again, James sugarcoats...nothing as he lays out this truth for us. I considered going all the way through chapter four this morning, but for our purposes, let's leave verse 17 for next week and just break down verses 13-16.
“13 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"-- 14 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. 15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.”
Does that passage hit home for any one else? Our driving question then for today is: How Shouldn’t We Plan For The Future? Here’s our gist: Don’t try to live this life without reference to God’s sovereignty and miss out on His perfect purpose!
I. Don’t Try To Live Without God’s Sovereignty (13, 16)
First here, we have an→
Example. It’s just one verse, but there is a lot in it, so let’s break down what the planner in verse 13 is actually saying. (Disclaimer: I am going to rearrange the order just slightly so my explanation flows better.)
“Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow...” They have a plan for when this is going to happen. They have a timetable.
“we will go into such and such a town...” They have a plan for where this is going to take place. They have a clear destination in mind.
“and trade...” That’s what they plan on doing.
“and spend a year there...” That’s how long they plan on doing it.
“and make a profit...” And that’s the result they are expecting.
They literally have everything all planned out: the when, where, what, how long, and how much! Now, before we get too much further here, let me make this clear, not all planning is evil. Melissa and I are planners. We’re also chronic dreamers. You combine those two together and the result is a lot of “forward projection”... but we’re not as good at the forward motion part all the time (which just gave me flashbacks to my Relient-K driven teen years!). In fact, I sometimes find that I have so many hats throughout any given week that if I don’t have a concrete plan for how and when I’m going to tackle everything, I won’t ever get it all done. However, there is a distinct line here. While much of the Bible speaks to the importance of intentional living, James is clearly pointing to a serious→
Danger. Look at verse 16. He literally says, “16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.” So, if we’re supposed to intentionally live our lives for God, when does planning become evil? When your planning is all about you! This ties into the whole point James has been making in this section of his letter. We won’t live faith-filled lives if we’re living for ourselves. If all of our planning is just focused on how we will benefit from fill-in-the-blank, we’re living in arrogance...which is the opposite of what we’re called to, and James lays that out in clear terms. He calls it flat evil. Why? Because →
II. It Causes You To Miss Out On Jesus’ Perfect Purpose (14-15)
Now, look at those middle verses (14-15). You make all these plans to benefit yourselves “14 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. 15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."” Let me break this down into two broad categories here. First, spinning our wheels trying to do whatever we can for ourselves ignores
Our Tainted Temporariness. (Yes, that is a word. I looked it up ☺️.) You could break down this reminder as — I’m a sinful vapor ☺️. As we’ve been established clearly over the past several weeks, we’re sinners. As such, we have a tainted perspective on life, and tend to view the world through the lens of our own selfishness. In addition to that, our earthly existence...isn’t a forever thing! We have a very limited perspective. We don’t last that long, and the time that we are here...we basically have no control over. How many of you can say with confidence you know exactly what is going to happen tomorrow? None of us. How many of you predicted that May 17th would be our second “in person” service since March, and it would be outside with most people staying in their cars, and most of those who aren’t wearing masks? We didn’t see this coming, and that’s just a dramatic example of how we live...every day. Since we don’t have the ability to predict the future with any kind of accuracy, does it make any sense to try to plan our lives on our own? No.
This perspective also missed out on→
God’s Saving Sovereignty. I’m a sinful vapor. God isn’t! All the limitations in my life don’t exist in Him. He’s not tainted by sin. In fact, He came deliberately to rescue us from our sins. And His existence is eternal. He has always been and will always be, so He possesses a perspective that so far exceeds ours that really thinking about it is enough to explode our minds ☺️. That being said, let me wrap this section up with two big picture observations from these verses.
1. “Lord willing” isn’t just a figure of speech. It has to be a reflection of our reality. We definitely throw that term around pretty flippantly. James isn’t just saying, hey don’t make all those plans. That’s evil! But… if you make all those plans and then throw in a “if the Lord wills” at the end, then you’re covered ☺️. No, we’re talking about a complete perspective change here. Proverbs 19:21 presents this as clearly as anywhere else in Scripture: “21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” That needs to be how we live our lives. I know I can make all kinds of plans, Lord, but only your plans work, and only your plans are worth my life, so please lead me to those. Because→
2. Planning isn’t evil, but planning without Him reflects our heart issue. You can do all the churchy stuff you want, but if you live your life like He has nothing to do with it, that’s practical atheism. Make plans, but make them with the right perspective. If my life is supposed to be lived to show other people the love of Jesus, am I making those kinds of plans? When you make decisions, your driving concern should be, will this honor God and allow me to be used by Him? Again, the more you...know His Word, the more informed this thought process becomes. And really, that’s the heart here. Be more concerned with His plans and His purposes than yours.
So let me give you just a few quick→
TAKEAWAYS
1. BAD NEWS: You won’t fix this life!
2. GOOD NEWS: The ultimate planner can!
3. So… live with this perspective. Again, this doesn’t mean we don’t make plans, but rather we make them with the right perspective.
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