Stay Misty: James 4:13-16
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God’s will is higher than our will. We might forget that though. The better things go, the more you don’t think you need God. The better things go, the more you think this is the norm. The better things go, the more you believe you created your situation by your virtue, your energy, and your wisdom. But wait. “You are a mist.”
We read the following in James 4:13–16: “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.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil” (ESV).
I hope you believe in Jesus as your Savior, the one who stood in your place, died for your sins, and rose for your justification. If you do, it’s still possible for you to say, “Lord willing” every time you use a future-tense verb, but still not rest in it. You can say, “I’m gonna pick up a pizza this afternoon…Lord willing,” and still get frustrated if you don’t get to pick up a pizza. The point of this passage isn’t to say a Christian knock-on-wood. The point is to rest in God, that his will is higher than your will. To stay misty. You are a mist. God’s will stands forever. You walk in his will, not your own. Whatever happens isn’t in the way, it is the way. That means…
God is your navigator. If he says to turn left, you turn left. If he says, “We’re going the long way because it’s the way to add these three necessary stops,” then we go the long way. We might as well rest in that.
God is your dispatcher. If he says you have a meeting on Tuesday, then you have a meeting on Tuesday. Maybe it’s a meeting with a client, a long-lost friend, a car accident, or a disease, but God’s will is higher than your will, and this appointment is important. We might as well rest in that.
God is your CFO, your chief financial officer. If he says you’ll spend money on xyz, then you will spend said amount on said item. You might have had other plans, but God will ensure there is money to spend on the things he’s called you to deliver. We might as well rest in that.
Don’t trust in your plans. There’s no rest in plans you can’t guarantee. They won’t be enough. Your plans are not what you were even designed for. Trust in God’s plans. Whatever he brings is not in the way, it is the way. You are mist, but God stands forever, and forever knows what he’s doing. Rest in that. Stay misty.