23 February 2022
Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.’ Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.’
From James 4:13-17, NRSV
Planning and organising our time and activities is a daily reality if we are to use our time well and meet the expectations that others have of us. Perhaps James is not saying that we do not need to plan but rather that we need to consider the purposes of what we plan. If the objective is to become completely self-sufficient and to believe that we can plan our lives down to every detail, then that can be at the cost of recognising and responding to the purposes God has for us. James wants his audience to remember to plan with God in mind and be open to events that we might not have chosen to happen.
- Why do you think James compares life to a “mist”?
- When has something good happened in your life for which you had not planned?
Reflect on the ways in which you plan your life and on how to allow God to be part of your planning.
