Should we plan for the future?

At the church where I serve we have been looking at a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of James. James was the half brother of Jesus who repeatedly doubted Jesus claim to be God, but became a follower of Jesus who was the pastor at the church in Jerusalem and who was ultimately killed for believing that Jesus was God. James turned from being a doubter in Jesus to being a pastor of Jesus church and an author of this letter that is recorded for us in the Bible after seeing Jesus after He was raised from the dead.

And as we look at this letter that was written by the half brother of Jesus, our hope and our prayer is that we would be able to wrap our heads, hearts, and hands around several timeless truths that occur in a life of faith that works itself out in a way that results in us living lives that look like Jesus.

This week, I would like for us to spend our time together picking up where we left off last week. And as we jump into the next section of this letter that the half brother of Jesus wrote to early followers of Jesus, called the book of James, we will see James reveal for us a timeless and true principle when it comes to the faith that works.  So let’s discover that timeless truth together beginning in James 4:13:

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit."

James begins this section of his letter by raising an issue that followers of Jesus throughout history have wrestled with. James begins to raise this issue with the phrase “come now”. This phrase is very similar to the phrase “now listen” that we use in our culture today. You see, James was attempting to grab the attention of a group of people who would be reading his letter. And that group of people, James explains, were those who were saying "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit."

These were early followers of Jesus who were making big plans when it came to their future. These were early followers of Jesus who were laying out a long term plan and strategy that they believed would result in long term success. These early followers of Jesus were full of confidence in their plan and believed that they were in control of their future and their destiny as they prepared to implement their plan.

And because these early followers of Jesus exuded with self confidence in their plan and strategy, James jarred their attention with a strong “Now you listen”. James is basically saying to these early followers of Jesus “Now you listen, you who are brimming with self confidence about your long term plan and strategy for a successful future. Make sure that you listen well to what I am about to say”.

Now a natural question that could arise at this point is “Well Dave is it wrong to have a plan? I mean shouldn’t we plan for the future? Shouldn’t we have a retirement plan? Shouldn’t we make plans and goals for our future when it comes to our finances and careers? Shouldn't we plan for potential future health issues by having health insurance? Dave what is wrong with planning?”

If those thoughts and questions are running through your mind, I want to let you know that those are great questions to be asking. And my response to those questions and thoughts is this: Yes you should plan for the future. Yes you should have plans and goals when it comes to your family and your career. You should plan for the day when you will no longer be able to work. Yes you should have life insurance and health insurance.

You should do all of those things because that is what followers of Jesus who are wise managers of their resources do. To fail to properly plan for the future is to prepare to foolishly fail in the future. You see, the issue that James is addressing here is not whether or not you should make plans for the future. But if the issue is not about whether or not we should make plans for the future, then what is the issue? We see James begin to give us a glimpse into the issue that James is addressing in verses 14-15:

Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that."

In verse 14, we see James provide for us a statement and a word picture that were designed to drive home two specific points. First James states “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.” Now this statement, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means “you do not know what will happen tomorrow. What kind of life is yours?”

With this statement, James is revealing for us the reality that at the end of the day, none of us know what the future may hold for us. At the end of the day, none of us know how events in the future that will impact our futures. At the end of the day, all we really know is what is happening in the present. While we can and should plan for the future, we should understand that we have no control over events in the future that could impact our future plans.

But not only do none of us know how events in the future will impact our futures. In addition, James states “You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” But what is that all about?

Have you ever driven early in the morning and seen a veil of low lying clouds covering an area of land? Yet, in a matter of hours, that veil of clouds disappears. If you had not seen it with your own eyes, you would never have known that the veil of clouds had ever been there. That is the word picture that James is painting here.

James here is revealing for us the reality that our lives our temporary. Unlike the Lord, who is fully aware of the future events that will occur on this earth, we are temporary and have no knowledge or control over the future events that will occur on this earth. And because of the fact that none of us know how events in the future that will impact our futures; because of the reality that our lives are temporary, James states that instead of relying on our self confidence in our plans and our ability to control our future, we ought to say "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that."

In other words, James is basically saying “Instead of you saying, ‘here are my plans Jesus, now make sure you bless my plans’ we should be saying ‘If the Lord desires us to be making these plans, then we will be blessed.” You, see the issue that James is addressing is not whether or not we should make plans for the future. The issue that James is addressing is how we should make plans for the future.

James point here is that we should make plans for the future by seeking God’s guidance and direction as we make our plans. As we plan for the future, we should be asking questions like “How do my plans line up with the message and teachings of Jesus? Or do my plans place me in opposition to the message and teachings of Jesus? Do my plans place me in a position where I can reveal and reflect Jesus to others? Or do my plans place me in a position where I would have to compromise what I believe about the message and teachings of Jesus?

Are the plans that I am making wise? Are the plans that I am making about what is best for me or what is best for my family in light of what the message and teachings of Jesus say about my role and responsibility in my family? Do my plans line up with how God has wired and designed me? Do my plans match up with the gifts, talents, and abilities that God has given me?

Have I run my plans by others who love and follow Jesus and who are mature enough to tell me what I need to hear about my plans and not simply what I want to hear about my plans?” However, these were not the questions that these early followers of Jesus were asking. That was not what these early followers of Jesus were doing when it came to the plans that they were making. Tomorrow, we will see James reveal this reality for us…