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.” James 4:13-15
We enjoyed our Christmas holidays with the kids all home. Shortly after we sent Jeremy back to school until summer and Patrick and Rebecca back to New York, expecting not to see them again until next Christmas or later. We did not know that Jeremy and Patrick and Rebecca would be back in March, they for 3 months and Jeremy the rest of the year. Covid-19 and racial unrest and daily riots in some of our cities, these were not anticipated. We thought we had the rest of the year figured out. Now? We're not sure when things will get back to normal, another year, a year and a half? Who knows? One thing is for sure, what James said in James 4:13-15 is true; we do not know what tomorrow will bring.
Many parents had to wait through most of the summer to find our what school will be like for their children next year. Working from home and having the kids schooling from home at the same time is another thing most parents did not imagine of desire; yet, we are looking at doing so at least until December if not later.
So, how do we plan for the next few months or for the next year? Can we make plans. Of course we can. God makes plans and he wants us to be like Him and plan as well. But, as we plan we aught to do so very humbly. The last six months teaches us that what James said is true, we "...are but a mist ant appears for a little time and then vanishes." The tide of events has swept away much of what was normal for us. How little we can do about it! We are as powerless to stop the events that have happened as is the mist under the hot sun. Once we learn this lesson, then we plan while recognizing that God can veto. And so we ready to say, "The Lord Willing..."
This is a good lesson in humility, causing us to recognize that God really is in control, not just in theology. Then we can let go of control and all the anxiety that comes with it. And we learn to dialogue more regularly with God.
Job 1:20-22 is a sobering passage to meditate on and dig deeper into God's control over events.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor MacDonald