Day 10: James 4:13-17
Warning about Self-Confidence
The Bible is full of warnings but we should see them as a sign of God’s love and His interest in our journey. He warns us to save our lives from shipwreck and devastation. Here the warning is about being over confident in pressing ahead with our own plans and agendas, and not pausing to consider if this is what God wants for us.
James 4:15
What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’
Prov 16:9
We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.
It is very easy and pleasing at first to carry out our own plans without giving God a chance to press the pause button. Ultimately though, we will have more peace when we place God at the centre of those plans.
This requires humility on our part as we humble ourselves, draw close to God and surrender our plans to him (see James 4:7,8 and 10).
We can either embrace the world’s culture that we are masters of our own destiny or we can apply the truth that God has the best plans for us, beyond what we can even imagine:
1 Cor 2: 9
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.
Perhaps you are becoming impatient for God to bring change in your circumstances or to show the world that you are the next great thing waiting to happen. Sometimes we are blind to what God is already doing and deaf to what He has been speaking to us because we do not want to wait for His timing. We might need a fresh revelation that God has amazing plans for us and is already at work in us even when we can’t see it or feel it:
Jeremiah 29: 11 tells us that God is fully aware of the plans He has for us and these are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
So, let’s refocus the lens and capture those moments where God is working for our good. Circumstances can sometimes lead us to accept the lie that God has abandoned us or forgotten about us. This is never true and we should not make plans based on this false assumption. Remember, God never stops working on our behalf; He is for us.
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Joel Larmour
Academy Student