Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” (James 4:13)
IN ALL THE OCCASIONS that form my life, I need to remember that life is uncertain. Life is short, and I cannot know the future.
When a motorist crosses the center line, hitting another car, a young father is killed instantly and his wife and two daughters spend months in a hospital. My sister-in-law, who has been active and healthy, is diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and struggles daily with a deteriorating body. Fifteen years ago, I was diagnosed with cancer. Today, I can write about that event that altered my life. Others are not that fortunate.
Certainly, my son and his wife must plan ahead and save for the college education of their two children. Someone has to plan the grocery expedition and think of the meals to prepare. The architects designing a bridge with exit ramps and on ramps must plan for months of construction activity.
Therein lies the paradox of life. I cannot live one day at a time. Yet, that is the only way I can live. Jesus was a realist, and He recognized the paradox. Because He understood it, He urged His disciples to turn a fact of existence into a fact of faith.
Whatever plans I prepare in this life should be made with God’s guidance. Only then can I be confident of my future.
Offer your plan for the future to God, then trust Him.
Drexel Rankin is a retired ordained minister who served in Indiana, Alabama, and Kentucky. He and his wife, Patty, live in Louisville, Kentucky.
© 2018 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
