“If the Lord wants us to, we shall live and do this or that. Otherwise you will be bragging about your own plans, and such self-confidence never pleases God.” James 4:15-16 (TLB)
James had a manner of direct blunt communication, but with a sense of love.
A velvet hammer.
None of us can predict the Lord’s plan.
No one person can be assured of tomorrow.
Or the day after that.
I find, however, great hope in this letter from James.
He warns not to find confidence in the plans you or I have made.
And then he follows up in the fifth chapter with these words, in which we can all find hope.
“Job is an example of a man who continued to trust the Lord in sorrow; from his experiences we can see how the Lord’s plan finally ended in good, for he is full of tenderness and mercy.” James 5:11 (TLB)
Regardless of the suffering and sorrow, when one is following the Lord’s plan, it will always end in good.
John
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