Today’s Reading: James 4:13-17; Psalm 32

Listen here, you who say “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog – it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise, you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. – James 4:13-16 (NLT)

SURRENDERING MY PLANS TO GOD

I am a planner. I like it when my life is rolling out just the way I expect it to. I feel most comfortable when I feel like I am in control of my circumstances. I desire for God to be in control of my life, but I want the result of that control to look just like I expected it to – MY PERFECT PLAN. Yet, in those moments when the future seems uncertain or scary, I am comforted by these Scriptures:

“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11

Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in Your book before a single one of them began. – Psalm 139:16

We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. – Ephesians 2:10

I am guilty of laying out my plans before God and then defending their value, but most often God has a different plan than what I am proposing to Him. He has “appointed times” and boundaries for me. My faith has been put to the test over the years and I have had to make a conscious decision to submit to God’s plan. On the other side of those decisions, I have to say there is no better place to be than in the center of God’s will — right where He wants me to be.

And He continues to challenge me today. The Spirit nudges me to ask myself if I am starting to lay down my own plans for today or if I am trusting Him and seek His will for how He wants to use me today or tomorrow or the next day. In surrender, I need to draw near to Him — staying focused on Him, asking for wisdom, and seeking Him.

In 2021, the Lord shook our plans loose and moved us over 300 miles west. I brought all of my doubts and questions to God, desiring to be in the center of His will. He gave me these instructions — Stay light on your feet. I have sat peacefully in those instructions since that day, resting in the knowledge that God is in control and His plans are better than my own. Knowing that, I prepare myself for the next YES, fully believing that I can trust God with my future.

Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. – James 4:17 (NLT)

I can’t ignore this verse. If there is good that God has asked me to do and I choose not to do it, I am sinning. I can avoid God today so that I don’t have to take the chance that He will ask me to do something I don’t want to do, or I can draw near to God and submit to His will. This is the great part – If I draw near to Him, He will draw near to me. Oh, how I love to be in God’s presence! It’s worth the risk of Him changing my plans today.

The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” – Psalm 32:8

God has THE PERFECT PLAN for our lives – the plan that offers us prosperity, hope and a future. Let’s start our day by submitting to God and whatever plan He has for us. Let’s draw near to Him so that He has our full attention. May our next YES be on our lips, ready to respond in obedience to the next thing God asks us to do.