If the Lord Will

Most of us begin each day with tomorrow already arranged. Our calendars tell us where we must be. Our phones remind us what must be done. And somewhere in the quiet of our minds, we assume that tomorrow will arrive exactly on schedule.

The Bible does not discourage planning. It is wise to prepare and to work with diligence. James is not condemning preparation. He is condemning presumption. The trouble is not that we make plans. The trouble is that we make them as though God were not part of them. The natural heart says, God, here are my plans, please bless them. The surrendered heart says, God, here are my plans, please direct them.

Jesus once told of a rich man whose ground brought forth plentifully. His barns were full, so he resolved to pull them down and build greater ones. He looked at all that he had gathered and told his soul that he had enough laid up for many years. He would take his ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. His sin was not that he owned barns, nor that he thought about the future. His sin was that he planned his future as though God had no say in it.

I will never forget the day my father was taken to the hospital. One moment I was outside playing street hockey with my friends. The next I was sitting in a waiting room with my mother and my sister, listening to a doctor explain that my father had acute leukaemia and that there was nothing more they could do. That day is engraved deep upon my heart. It was a tomorrow that none of us had planned. Perhaps you know that feeling. One telephone call. One diagnosis. One conversation. And everything changes.

We cannot worry enough to keep the hard days away. We cannot plan carefully enough to govern every circumstance. But we can rest in the care of the One who is already standing in our tomorrow. God knows every joy that waits for us, every burden we will carry, and every trial we will face. Nothing will take Him by surprise.

Trusting God with tomorrow begins by submitting to Him today. Pride says, I can manage my life. Humility says, I need God. When a child is afraid, he does not ask for a long explanation. He simply wants to be near his father. So it is with us. When the future frightens us, we draw nearer to our heavenly Father, who promises, Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.

God does not hand us all the strength we will ever need in one moment. He gives grace day by day. Strength for today’s duties. Peace for today’s worries. Wisdom for today’s decisions. Tomorrow may be heavy, but there is nothing waiting for you there that the grace of God cannot carry you through.

So make your plans. Only hold them with an open hand, and say, If the Lord will. We do not need to control tomorrow through worry, nor claim it through presumption. We need only place it into the hands of God. Because He lives, we can face tomorrow.