“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.’ 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.’”
(rf. James 4:13-15 NASB)
As I type out this article, one year is closing and another is about to begin, much like turning the page in a book from one chapter to the next. We are living in the present, remembering the past, but are not at all sure what the future holds for us. We make plans but quickly realize that we have no real control over what will happen ahead. We are reminded of Solomon’s words of wisdom, “the mind of man plans his way...the Lord directs his steps” (rf. Proverbs 16:9).
How then do we overcome this frustration of not being in total control? The answer is an easy one to acknowledge but is never easy to apply. It is a matter of relinquishing the idea of possessing control and letting God exert His authority over us, our lives and our time, plans and future. This is a daily, conscious, willful submission of one’s life to the Lord. This produces humility in attitude and spirit as well as an understanding that none of us ultimately control our own destiny. When we affirm the Lordship of Christ in our lives, we see Him as He is Biblically portrayed, “Lord of all”. That designation is not limited to all things outside of ourselves, but it includes us as well. This does not relegate us to mindless robots. Rather, we are fully responsible for our own decisions and actions even as these are under the full jurisdiction of His will. The Old Testament patriarch Joseph understood this principle perfectly. Though his brothers feared for their lives after their father, Jacob, died, Joseph in compassion explained to them that God was in total control of their situation despite their sin against him: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive” (rf. Genesis 50:20).
The truth that we need to possess as we proceed into this new year is this—submission. We should be humble before the Lord, readily recognizing that His way is much better than our own, His plans far exceed ours in wisdom and authority. Thus, being submissive, we should follow through with His directives and be obedient to His Word, regardless of if conventional wisdom or popularity says otherwise. God does not operate by worldly ways according to cultural norms and wisdom, mind you. As His Word testifies, His ways are not ours...but they are much higher than our own (paraphrase of Isaiah 55:9).
This new year lies before us all with great possibilities and opportunities. Let us then pursue the course that the Lord has set out for us to follow, understanding that His way and will for us is always best.
