What About God?
Life is short. Seems like a cliché, but it’s accurate. People are always planning what they’re going to do with their lives. They talk about their dreams, where they want to go, what they want to be, and where they’re going to retire. Some people talk about doing things for God, but most only think of themselves and what they want. They have this twisted idea that God wants them to be happy, so they live their lives for themselves, and wonder why they’re in debt and wonder why nothing seems to be working out the way they thought it’d be. They forget that God is in control, and that He gives and takes away.
James wrote a bit about this in James 4:13-17. He says that we shouldn’t be making far off plans into the future based on a whim, because we don’t know how long our lives are. We could die tomorrow, and all of our plans would be in vain. James says that we should instead say that if the Lord wills, we will do this or that. We need to pray and find God’s will before we make far reaching plans in our lives. Otherwise, we won’t be living in God’s will, and we will eventually end up in pain. It’s easy to turn to God when our own personal life plans fall apart, but had we been walking with God the entire time, going where He leads us, things probably wouldn’t have gotten so far out of control. Look at Jonah. He took matters into his own hands, and everything for him was so much worse than if he had just obeyed the first time. The Israelites as a people in the Old Testament are another good example of what happens. They all made their own plans whenever their lives were going well, but inevitably it turned into a disaster for them that cost them so much.
Looking back at what Jesus taught, we see in the parable about the rich fool that Jesus taught this as well. The rich man built his grain towers so that he could make a larger profit, but he dies before they could be completed. The rich man didn’t know that his life was going to end that night. Jesus said that this happens to people who stores up things for themselves rather than for God. God deserves everything that we could ever give Him. Who are we to only call on God in our times of trouble, but ignore Him when life is good? If we try to walk away from God, He’s going to do something to get our attention, and most of the time; it’s pretty painful for all involved. Isn’t it so much easier to just find where God is leading us and go, rather than trying to do what we want?
Not only is it foolish to live our lives the way we want, it’s also sinful. James says, in James 4:17, that he that knows to do good, but doesn’t do it, its sin. There are two ways to take that. First way is that if we see something good that we can do, but we don’t do it, then we’re sinning. The second way to take it is in context with the rest of the chapter. In that way, it’s saying that if we don’t follow God’s will, we’re sinning as well. Personally, I believe that both views are equally valid. If we see a chance to do good, and don’t do it, then we’re sinning, and if we ignore or don’t seek God’s will in our life, then we’re sinning as well.
A lot of people who aren’t living in God’s will, and suffering the consequences of it, try to use Romans 8:28 to make themselves feel better. It says “All things work together for good for those who TRUST IN GOD and are CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE”. They generally take the first half of the verse when things aren’t going well for them as an excuse. Most of the time, these people are having issues in their lives because they missed the second part of the verse. If we’re not doing what God wants us to, things aren’t going to work out for good.
Seeking God’s will is a critical part of our lives. It doesn’t mean that our lives will be smooth and easy, look at Paul’s life for example, but we will be much happier in the end. Do we seek His will in what we do, or do we just do what we want?
