My wife and I both share a family calendar on our phones. If one of us forgets to add an important event or appointment to the schedule, the other usually says, “If it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t exist!”

We live in a “time conscious” society. If we’re honest with ourselves, we all realize how little control we have over our time. So James tackles this topic in James 4:13-17, explaining the foolishness of filling up our schedules while forgetting to make God a part of our plans.

Tomorrow is a Mystery

“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” (James 4:13).

Do you feel like time is under your control? Solomon said, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring” (Prov. 27:1). Tomorrow is a day that never comes — a day full of mystery and uncertainty.

There’s nothing wrong with planning for the future, as long as we remember that our “life is like a breath” (Job 7:7). We’re just a blip on the radar (1 Peter 1:24), while God remains in control of everything.

Trust God’s Plan

“Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil” (James 4:15-16).

God has a plan for our lives, and it’s up to us to trust him. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Prov. 3:5-6).

What’s God’s plan for you? When we trust in ourselves over God, we’re guilty of arrogance and sin.

Do What’s Right

“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (James 4:17).

What better use of our time than doing what’s right? If you could sum up our jobs as Christians today, it’s to do the right thing. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).

Life is short, and tomorrow is uncertain. Stay mindful of God in all you do, and humble yourself to trust in his plan for the future.