Looking Ahead

“Lord willin’”! Maybe this is a phrase you’ve heard. Maybe it’s one you’ve used. Whatever the case, there’s a good thought behind it and it’s not something we should take lightly.

The phrase comes from James 4:13-15 where James tells the church the following: “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

James gives us a caution not only against how we speak, but the meaning and thoughts behind the words we use.

Firstly, we do need to be cautious when speaking of or for the Lord. The name of God is not a word to give emphasis, to stress a point, or to express excitement, frustration, or confusion. Yet so many today use the name of Jesus in a way that is profane. The name of Jesus, the name of God, and the Holy Spirit should be held in honor and treated with respect. Exodus 20:7 tells us in the 10 Commandments, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”

But James is not talking about those to use the name of God improperly. He’s talking about people that should be including God and they aren’t. So we don’t take the phrase lightly for two reasons. One, it has the name of God. But two, for the reason James provides: “you do not know what tomorrow will bring”.

Some people might take this to such an extreme to mean that the Bible teaches we can’t look ahead, think about next week or next year but that isn’t the point James is making. The point of this passage is that God needs to be a part of our plans. We do need to be diligent, and faithful, and good stewards, and deal responsibly, and focus on the mission, and do the will of God wherever He leads us. We don’t need to think that we’re the ones in charge, that we make the calls, that we’re in total control.

So then how do we plan ahead? How do we think about the future? How do we consider what God could have for us next? We have to pray. We have to look to God. We have to allow God to lead us. We have to look at our plans and ask ourselves if this will help in the mission to bring Jesus to the lost and the lost to Jesus.

James says it a few verses prior: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

So then, as we look ahead for what’s next, let us pray. Let us get into the text. Let us find ways that God is giving us opportunities and resources to help overcome whatever it is that stands in the way of getting the message out of the book and into the hearts and minds of the people around us.

We don’t know what tomorrow holds. But we know what’s been asked of us today, and today we can obey.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving should be more than just a time of year, it should be a lifestyle. For many of the faithful people we read about in the Bible, that’s exactly what it was. We have pages filled with praises for God and His wonders. We have verse after verse that remind us of the great things He has done in the great “story” of salvation. The mere but amazing fact that we are here at all is something to be indescribably grateful for. God is praised for His creation, His works, His wonders, His glories, and the revelation of His word and His will in the Bible itself as well as the Word became flesh, the man Jesus Christ.

Praise should never be on the backburner, but life is not so simple. These very same people that praised God in all these good times are also the ones that Praised God when things got tough. These are the people that praised God in the exile after being removed from the Promised Land. These are the people that praised God despite experiencing losses like David did. These are people that praised God like Peter and Paul did from their prison cells after being beaten and ridiculed.

It is often hard to praise, but it’s important.

Praising God in worship helps us in many ways. In so many ways, the world is working against us. Let us never try to fight these battles alone, or at all. Deuteronomy 31:8 tells us that it’s not our place to do the fighting or our place to do the winning. Instead, we are encouraged to surrender – not to the enemy, but to the Lord. “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Therefore when we struggle to praise, the best thing we can do is pray.

The challenge with this approach is that we might have the wrong idea of prayer. If I could only think of the right words to say. If I could develop a really good argument. If I could make my case, make some valid points then I know my prayer would be answered the way I want it to be. This approach to prayer brings stress upon stress when we know we ought to pray but we don’t know what to say. But that’s exactly what’s wrong with this approach. We need to bring out broken hearts to God, not our fancy words and long-winded, empty prayers.

Therefore when we struggle to praise, the best thing we can do is pray anyway.

Paul has been through a lot. He gave up a lot. He changed his whole life because of Jesus and because of that his whole life was forever changed. Better still, his life was eternally changed. Paul had the faith and humility to praise God even when it was hard or he didn’t know what to say. Now that’s hard to believe! The person who God used through the Holy Spirit to write so many of the books of the New Testament might not know what to say? Well, Paul gives us this wisdom in the book of Romans and he may even be writing from experience:

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27).

Did you see that? When we do not know what we ought to pray for the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. So when you think you don't know what to say, pray anyway.

The best thing we can do, wherever we are in life, whatever is going on, is pray.

Peace in Our Time

There’s a great many blessings of God that are far off. We long for the day when there will be no more pain and no more tears. We long for the time when there will be no more night and the Lord will be the light for His people. We hope beyond hope for the death of death and for the final defeat of evil. We pray for relief from the burdens we carry, the fear of the future, and the worries of tomorrow. We cherish the forgiveness we find in Jesus. We cling to His promise of reconciliation and sanctification. We share the grace and mercy we’ve received with others so they can find in the Lord salvation and hope.

These will come. Some have in part, some will not come until the end. For these we wait in hopeful anticipation at the coming of the Lord on the last day. We know beyond knowing and believe beyond believing in these promises of God. But they are lacking. They are incomplete. They are not yet.

We need something for today. Jesus tells us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” We need something not just in the distant future, but we need hope and assurance now. The beauty of the promises of God is that He doesn’t just give us something for tomorrow, but He gives for us today just what we need.

We know we’ve made mistakes. We know we’ve lived in sin. We know we’ve failed to obey. We know of ways we’ve failed to love. God doesn’t just give us promises for us to wait on, but in the promise of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior we can have peace now. Jesus bears our burdens with us not just in the future but today. Peter writes, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7). In Hebrews we are reminded, “God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Heb. 13:5). These promises come from the word of the Lord in Deuteronomy 31:8, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

And Jesus Himself gives us the assurance, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Mt. 6:26). And Jesus keeps His promises.

So when we find ourselves in need, let us remember to pray. Let us remember the family we have here in our church that loves us and cares for us. When we are worried, let us bring our heart to God for comfort and strength. We have a great many things on our minds that work to bring us down. Our Lord builds us up and keeps us and protects us. He had made us many promises that we look forward to being fulfilled one day. But let us not neglect the blessings He gives us each and every day.