What a day may bring forth...
"Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth."
(Proverbs 27:1)
"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 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.' But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil." (James 4:13-16)
God showed me last week that I was spending way too much time obsessing over making plans and trying to please everyone for the holidays. I was agonizing over get-togethers and cancellations, balancing time with families, trying to keep loved-ones' feelings from being hurt, being torn in several directions. My joy and peace in Christ were replaced with wordly agony and anxiety. I worried and lost sleep. My focus had shifted from my God to worldly things and how quickly I forgot that obsessing over plans is evil. The Lord may not even will that I live long enough to fulfill these worldly plans I've so carefully made. Though family is important to me, there's nothing about a dinner that should wreck my thought life and rob me of joy in Christ.
God granted me forgiveness for this sin and gave me the most remarkable peace. You know, that peace that surpasses understanding? That's the peace! The joy of His salvation returned and godly focus was restored. Rest, oh my soul! Praise be to God!
(Proverbs 27:1)
"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 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.' But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil." (James 4:13-16)
God showed me last week that I was spending way too much time obsessing over making plans and trying to please everyone for the holidays. I was agonizing over get-togethers and cancellations, balancing time with families, trying to keep loved-ones' feelings from being hurt, being torn in several directions. My joy and peace in Christ were replaced with wordly agony and anxiety. I worried and lost sleep. My focus had shifted from my God to worldly things and how quickly I forgot that obsessing over plans is evil. The Lord may not even will that I live long enough to fulfill these worldly plans I've so carefully made. Though family is important to me, there's nothing about a dinner that should wreck my thought life and rob me of joy in Christ.
God granted me forgiveness for this sin and gave me the most remarkable peace. You know, that peace that surpasses understanding? That's the peace! The joy of His salvation returned and godly focus was restored. Rest, oh my soul! Praise be to God!
Right on! You may be burned at the stake like I was and never see tomorrow's dinner
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