WEDNESDAY
One of the most difficult aspects of the Christian life is submitting to the will of the Lord. We want God to do our will, not the other way around. But everywhere in Scripture we are told to submit to the will of God. Jesus teaches us to pray for God’s will to be done.
Matthew 6:9–15 9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
James tells us not to plan without factoring in the will of God. Remember, he isn’t telling us not to plan. He is telling us not to plan without submitting to the will of God.
James 4:13–17 13 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.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.