DIVINE INTERUPTIONS
“ Look here, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.’ How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog – it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’ Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.” James 4:13-16 NLT
When it comes to making plans, or when it comes to any decision regarding our life or if we are in the position to make decisions for others – it’s always best to ask God first. What does God desire for us? What is His will for our lives? What is His will regarding this situation?
Walking in the will of God is the most satisfying experience, no matter the current circumstances. We really live life when we are in God’s will.
And if we think about it, there’s a reason God exhorts us through Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to be constant in prayer. To be constant in conversation with Him. He wants to talk to us. He wants to guide us spiritually in our everyday lives so that wisdom fills our every step along the path of righteousness no matter what our circumstances present. His wisdom brings about peace, which guards our hearts and minds as we live in Christ Jesus.
Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:18 is that we, Christians, would have the power to understand how wide, how long, how high, and how deep God’s love is for us. And God has given us that power to understand His love by giving us His word – His knowledge. We know Satan has to ask God first when he wants to attack us or our family with some type of spiritual warfare, as we learned in Job 1:12. We also know that overwhelming victory is ours through Jesus Christ because He loves us as Romans 8:37 states. God will never be overcome by Satan. So though God may allow Satan to try us, God, Himself guides us in how to dominate the darkness. Thus, we need to be current with God in constant communion in order to hear Him regarding the unseen situations that are spiritually felt.
It is really easy to get caught up in our own plan and strategy in how to accomplish a specific task or our plan for the future, due to the knowledge we have acquired throughout our life’s experiences. However, James warns us about being overly confident in making our own plans with our human wisdom. He reminds us, “God sets himself against the proud” in James 4:6 NLT. The proud decide strategy apart from consulting with Jesus. The proud make their own plans with their own wisdom and knowledge, while forgetting God.
It’s the call to be loyal and faithful to the Lord, obey His commands, and follow His leading. True faith produces dependence on God. So, we refuse to live our life by way of self-efficacy with us deciding the plan and choose to live God dependent lives with Him leading.
Only God knows what tomorrow will bring—Psalm 139:16.
As Psalm 37:5 NLT states, “Commit your plans to the Lord. Trust him and he will help you.” Be open to God interrupting your plans. He desires the best for you. He’s writing your story and His divine interruptions often bring greater blessings and better endings. Truly, His divine interruptions bring a depth to our faith that our own plans and strategies would have never accomplished. Trust Him! He knows what He is doing and “no good thing will the LORD withhold from those who do what is right”—Psalm 84:11.
Today, will you seek the Lord first regarding your plans?
Prayer: Abba, thank You for Your wisdom and guidance in our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
