The Arrogance of Man's Plans (James 4:13-16) [2026-1-18]

New Year, we look forward to 2026.

I know that many of us probably have plans.

Maybe plans for dating, plans for marriage, plans for a first

child or second child or third child, plans for graduating

school, plans for a career change, plans to to move or or

maybe plans to keep things the same and not make any changes

whatsoever. Lord, help us to submit our

plans to you and to recognize our our our plans are not

sovereign. You are sovereign God.

You are sovereign over our plans.

I pray God that you would teach us that this morning through

this text in Jesus name, Amen. There are all types of planning.

Some people will have plans for their plans.

There is financial planning, right?

Planning to have an emergency fund, maybe plan to save for a

home purchase. There's plans for budgeting,

plans for investing. There is a date planning.

You talk to Nick Pleasants about that, wills and trust and

beneficiaries. There is retirement planning,

saving for the latter years of your life.

There's how you will spend your latter years, where you'll spend

it. There's senior care.

There is tax planning. How can you minimize your tax

liability? There is insurance planning,

things like life insurance and health insurance or career

planning, plans to start your own business, maybe do a start

up, plans to change careers. Maybe you have business goals.

There is family planning, plans for marriage, plans for

children, plans for parenting decisions.

There is education planning, saving for your children's

education, planning to get a graduate degree or a doctorate.

There's health and fitness planning, plans for diet, I'm

going to have plans for a new diet this year, plans for

exercise, plans for sleep, there's travel plans, vacations

and plans to go see family there.

There's all kinds of plans. None of those plans are wrong in

and of them self. The question is this, how much

does God factor into your plans? That's the question.

Is it that God's will is the center of my life and I want to

know how do my plans fit into God's will?

Or is it that my plans are the center of my life and I want to

know how God's will fits into my plans?

That's the question, isn't it? What is central?

What dictates everything? God or your plans?

That's what we're going to get to this morning.

So let's start with the exhibition of the text.

I'll try to explain this, exposit it, and then I'll give

you application of our text this morning.

Let's start in verse 13, where James writes come now, you who

say today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town, We'll

spend a year there, we'll trade and we'll make a profit.

James starts off our passes this morning with a call.

It is a harkening. Come now or there's the NIV

translates. Now listen, James wants to get

the attention of a certain group of people in the church.

He says, come now, you who say, what do they say today or

tomorrow? We will go into such and such a

town. We'll spend a year there.

We'll trade and we'll make a profit.

So James wants to get the attention of these people who

are making business plans. Let's break down their

statement. First they say today or

tomorrow. Now this doesn't have to be

literal. Today can just mean this season.

Tomorrow can be the proverbial tomorrow.

Just in the future, sometime we will go into such and such a

town. So they have plans to move to a

certain place. We know that in antiquity it was

a very trade kind of oriented profession or, or, or, or

culture. And so these traders would move

around from place to place to be able to sell their products.

And so they would move there for businesses purposes, spend time

there. They plan to spend a year there.

So they have a timeline for how long they're going to spend in

this town. They're going to stay there for

one year. What are they going to do when

they get there? They're going to trade,

literally to carry on an activity involving buying and

selling or to be in business. This could be anything from

spices to silk to olive oil to textiles to perfumes to grain to

clothing. They're going to trade and they

plan to make a profit. Literally a game.

They plan to make a profit or a game.

So I want us to consider the nature of their statement.

They have a purpose, they have a timeline, they have direction,

they have plans, they have ambitions, they have an exit

strategy. Sounds wise, doesn't it?

I was thinking about this. What are some modern day

versions of this statement? Next year I'm going to move to

Los Angeles, launch this startup.

We'll be profitable by quarter 3.

I'm going to work here for two years, then I'm going to switch

companies to a higher paying role.

I'm going to save and invest for the 1st 25 years of my life,

retire at 50 and live off the returns.

We're going to plant 5 churches in the next 5 years.

Each one will grow to 100 or more.

I plan to graduate at 22, get married by 26, have our first

kid by 30. What is James's response to such

statements? What is his response to such

statements? Look at verse 14.

You do not know what tomorrow will bring.

What is your life for you are a miss that appears for a little

time and then vanishes. Now one thing I want to point

out is that the statement in verse 13, there are 4 verbs in

their statement. Go, spend, trade, make.

Those are 4 verbs in the statement.

All four verbs are in the indicative mood, the mood of

reality. That's important because in

other words, they are not making this statement as a statement of

possibility that we hope to do this or we we, we desire, or

maybe we'll do this. They are making the statement as

a reality. We will go into such and such a

town. We will spend a year there.

We will trade. We will make a profit.

They're all indicative mood, and James is challenging these

people with a self-evident elementary truth.

You don't know what tomorrow will bring.

You don't know the future. And James asked them a question.

What is your life? What is your life?

I think James is trying to get these people to stop and

consider how small they are, how powerless they are, how

insignificant they are. Think of it like this.

It'd be like if an Ant came into my house.

An Ant, a little Ant came into my house and it started

boasting. Tomorrow I'm going to go into

the pantry and start eating all this food.

Then I will work my way to the counter where the fruit bowl is

and I will enjoy some of that. Then I will finish with dessert,

with the candy and the cupboard, to which I would say to the

aunt, how do you know I'm not going to crush you right now?

What is your life? Oh, Aunt James is exhorting them

to consider the existential nature of their life.

And what is that? What is the existential nature

of their life? Here it is.

You are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

You ever spray an air freshener or you spray it, You see the

mist come out and you see it for like a few seconds and then it

just, it's just gone. Are you ever going outside on a

cold day? I this morning I parked at the

school while I got here like at 7:30 in the morning, right?

It was freezing outside. I, I was, I'm walking to the

church. Ever you, you breathe and you

see your breath. You see it for like a second or

two and then it just it's just gone.

James says that is your life. It's there and then it's gone.

Look at verse 15. Instead, you ought to say, if

the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.

Now I want you to notice the issue is not with making plans.

The issue is not with the plan itself.

James does not talk about their plan.

There's no problem with the plan.

There's nothing wrong with their plans.

The issue is with the heart that goes with the plans.

That's the issue, James writes. Instead, you ought to say this,

if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.

Let's break this down. The statement.

What does it mean to say if the Lord wills?

What? Why does he say that?

What is what is he getting at? What does that mean when we

first need to discuss a common paradigm that I've given you

many, many times, but I'm going to keep sharing it because it's

difficult to kind of get our minds around.

When the Bible talks about the will of God, there are two

different ways that the Scriptures describe His will.

The 1st is what we call will of ordination, and the second is

what we call will of command. What are those?

Let me talk about the second first.

God's will of command is that which He has commanded us to do.

So for example, God wills that we not murder, that we not

steal, that we not covet, that we not lie, that we not commit

idolatry. But this will is broken Every

day. People murder.

Every day people steal every day.

People commit adultery every day.

That's God's will of command. God's will of ordination is what

God has sovereignly decreed will happen no matter what.

So, for example, if a person gets into a car accident with a

drunk driver, why did that happen?

It's very easy to say, well, because the person was a drunk

driver. That is true on one level.

But what is the real answer? Why did that happen?

God willed it to happen. God willed it to happen.

God's will of ordination is never broken.

It's never frustrated. So when James says if the Lord

wills, he's referring to God's will of ordination.

In other words, if the Lord wills it, if God ordains it,

they will go into such and such a town and spend a year there

and trade and make a profit. But if God wills that on their

way to such and such a town they get run over by a wagon, they

contract malaria, or that pests eat all their crops that they're

planning to sell, then they won't do it.

They won't do these things. Notice James's point is not only

that God is sovereign over whether they make it to the

town. Not only is He sovereign about

whether they stay there for one year or one minute.

Not only is he sovereign over whether they have something to

trade or not. Not only is He sovereign whether

they make a profit or not, God is even sovereign over whether

they are going to wake up the next morning.

That's why he says if the Lord wills, we will live.

Meaning whether I wake up tomorrow morning is up to the

Lord, because if God wills that I die tonight, I'm not going to

make it to this town tomorrow. Look at verse 16.

As it is you boast in your arrogance.

All such boasting is evil, James says as it is meaning taking

your statement as is taking your statement at face value, you are

boasting in your arrogance. Now how was their statement at

verse 13? Boasting right?

When we all make you know, are we boasting?

When? When we say, you know, I'm going

to do this tomorrow, right? Somebody said, hey, what are you

doing tomorrow? I'm going to Burger King.

I think boaster, are we boasting whenever we how, how is this

arrogance? Well, here's how they are acting

independent of God. They are assuming they have

control over their lives. You ever hear, I hear people say

this on TV or somebody gets diagnosed with cancer and they

say I will beat this cancer. Always bothered me when I hear

that. This is so prideful.

It assumes we have control over the cancer.

This statement by them. It assumes they have control

over travel, the weather, their health, the market, the

timeline, and ultimately God. Their statement completely

leaves God out of the equation, which is why James says this

kind of boasting is evil will stop their exposition.

Application of the text. I have 7 points of application

for you #1 make plans but plan to trust God.

Make plans but plan to trust God.

Some of us are planners, some of us are not.

I know this about this about, about you.

I, I, I spent a lot of time listening to you, studying your

personalities, understanding who you are.

Some of us in this room are very planners and some of us are not.

I've known people who literally planned out every 30 minutes of

their life. Literally like every 30 minutes.

They planned out in their calendar 30 minutes.

I thought I was intense. And I'm like, man, I'm nowhere

near that intense. I've known people who have never

made a plan a day in their life. They wake up and whatever, man.

Some of this boils down to personalities and gifting and

preferences and lifestyle. But here's what I'm getting at

this morning. Is there a spiritual way to

think about planning? Is there a spiritual Is there a

godly, mature way to think about planning?

Does God want us to be planners, or is planning a worldly

practice? That's the question.

Does God want us to be planners? Or is planning something that

the world does and we should not make plans when someone reads

this text, it would be very easy to walk away thinking that God

doesn't want us to make plans, right?

And he's very, you could read that and a face value could read

that thing. Well, I shouldn't make plans.

I should just, you know, take life as it is.

And, and that would be a wrong application of the text.

That would be a wrong application of the text.

Now, how do I, how do I deduce that making plans is not

inherently sinful? Let me show this to you from a

few verses. Proverbs 66 to 8.

Go to the Ant, Oh sluggard, I love that.

Oh sluggard, consider her ways and be wise without having any

chief officer or ruler. She prepares her bread and

summer and gathers her food and harvest.

So there Solomon is, is is exhorting the the world to say,

go learn from the Ant. The Ant makes plans for the

winter. Go learn from this.

There's wisdom in making plans. Proverbs 16 three Commit your

work to the Lord, and your What plans will be established?

Proverbs 2018 Plans are established by council.

Proverbs 21 five The plans of the diligent lead surely to

abundance. Even Jesus says and Luke 1428

For which of you desiring to build a tower, does not first

sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to

complete it? What would that be called?

Planning, financial planning, business planning, and even Paul

made plans on his missionary journeys.

He made plans to go back and visit towns.

He made plans to go to Jerusalem.

He made plans to go to Spain. There are all kinds of plans

that can rise. Plans are not inherently sinful.

That being said, plans can often reveal where our true hope and

trust and joy lies. Sometimes we make plans not out

of wisdom, but out of fear. Sometimes we make plans not out

of faith, but out of a desire for control.

Sometimes you make plans not out of a joy in the Lord, but a joy

in profit. You see, plans can easily rival

God. In other words, rather than

consult the Lord, we consult our plans.

Rather than trust the Lord, we trust our plans.

Church family make plans, but plan to trust God.

Make that your first plan. Plan to trust God with your

plans #2 Plans have a way of revealing where whether our

faith is in God or in our effort.

Plans have a way of revealing whether our faith is in God or

our effort. When we read this statement

today or tomorrow, we will go into such and such a town.

We'll spend a year there, we'll trade, we'll make a profit.

When we read that, we might think, what's wrong with that

statement? What's wrong with it?

Well, here's the question. Are they making this statement

because they have faith that is centered on God, or are they

making this because they have confidence that is centered on

effort? In other words, why do they

believe that they will be able to do this?

Why they believe they will be able to go into this town and

stay a year there and trade and make a profit?

Is it because they have faith that God will provide for them,

that God will sustain them? Or is it because they have

confidence that they can make this happen?

Over the past 15 years that I've lived here, I have heard some

disturbing statements about future plans.

These are all true. I've heard every one of them.

One is I will work six or seven days a week, 18 hours a day.

I'll do this for 20 years and then I'll retire at age 40.

Another is I'm going to save up a large sum of money and then I

will take a year or two off of work.

I just want to work for a couple of years just to get a break.

Another is I'll focus on my career for the first decade out

of college and then I'll think about marriage in my 30s.

Another is we will date for six years and then get married.

Another is our plan is to be married for five years and then

we'll have kids. Another is I'm going to quit my

job and I'll get another one after some time off.

I don't know, you know, but I'm going to quit it without it,

without something else. Another is I'm not worried about

finding a spouse. I know I can when I hear these

things, my, my thought is always the same.

How do you know any of that's going to happen?

Let me how do you know you're not going to get hit by a car

crossing the street and you're paralyzed for the next 50 years

of your life? You got to save up this.

How do you know that the market's not going to crash and

you lose everything you have? How do you know that you're not

going to date for six years and after six years your partner

decides they're fed up with you and they they leave you.

You don't get married. How do you know that when you

decide you want to start having kids, you're actually going to

be able to have them? How do you know that when you

quit your job, you're going to be able to get a new one?

How do you're good looking now so you're not worried about

getting a spouse? How do you know that you'll be

good looking in five years? You might not be good looking in

five years. How do you know that these

things are going to happen? It sounds to me as though your

faith is not in God, it is in your effort.

Plans have a way of revealing where our faith actually is #3

no matter how educated or experienced or wise or well

researched we are, nobody knows the future except God.

I don't care how educated we are, how experienced we are, how

wise we are, how well researched we are, nobody knows the future

except God. James says.

Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.

This is such a simple truth. I would imagine that even the

kids in our congregation, if I asked you, does anybody know the

future, they would know enough to say no.

It's, it's, it's such a simple truth.

Nobody knows the future. And yet how often do we

subconsciously or consciously believe that we know the future?

Some of my boys teammates have started sports betting.

Sports betting has exploded in America.

Now, as far as I know, none of you do that.

But if any of you do this, you need to stop now, or any kind of

betting. It is exploded.

It is growing at an exponential and a devastating rate.

One of the roots of its popularity is the prideful

assumption that we know the future.

People are willing to put their money on the table on the

assumption that they know the future.

I even saw an article this week that said there are now

companies out there that will let you bet on almost anything.

I mean, anything. How many times the president

will say drill, baby, drill? You can bet on that.

The same is true with the stock market.

There's an age-old saying nobody times the market.

Yeah, do not people try to time the market.

The same can be said with options and leveraging.

I'm not saying we shouldn't be educated.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't seek experience.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't have wisdom.

I'm not saying we shouldn't do research.

We should, we should do these things.

If you were an encyclopedia salesman back in the 90s when

the Internet was exploding, you might want to start planning for

a career change. The same can be said with AI and

robotics. We will be going through a

revolution with this. We will and we have to be wise

about what the industries that look like in the next 5-10,

fifteen, 20 years. We have to think that way, yes.

But that being said, no matter how wise we are, no matter how

educated we are, no matter how experienced we are, no matter

how research we are, nobody knows the future except for God.

Now, let me be clear on this. It's not enough to just mentally

assent to that. You might be sitting there

thinking, well, yeah, of course, Matt, yes.

Nobody knows the future. It's not enough to just mentally

assent to that. That truth needs to impact the

way we live. It needs to impact the way in

which we live. I have heard stories where

parents put all their eggs in one basket, a basket known as a

kid. They put all their eggs in this

one basket and when that kid turned 18 they wanted nothing to

do with their parents and now all their plans are down the

drain. I've heard stories where someone

planned out their entire life. They had it all mapped out.

They planned everything down to the year and and how it was

going to work out and then they got cancer at 32 and all their

plans are wasted. I have heard stories where a

couple got married and they waited 10 years to have kids

assuming that as soon as they wanted them they would have them

only to find out they can't get pregnant.

Nobody knows the future. We can say we know that, but do

we not often live as though we know how it will turn out?

We we will be able to control what we do in the future.

Be careful that we don't make plans on the assumption that we

know the future. 4 Humility acknowledges the transitory and

insignificant nature of our life.

Humility acknowledges the transitory and insignificant

nature of our life. One of the reasons that I love

this book, that I love the word of God is that it reminds me of

how small I am. This book reminds me like no

other of how small I am. It's like the Grand Canyon or

Mount Rainier. I can feel very important.

I I you know, people say they have imposter syndrome.

Y'all heard that before? I told Lauren that I have

posture syndrome. I don't have imposter, I have

posture syndrome. I wrestled with like, I'm him.

I, I, I don't. I've never, I've never had

imposter syndrome a day of my life.

I can feel important and significant and large.

But but when I stand next to the Grand Canyon, when I stand next

to Mount Rainier, I am reminded of how small I am.

I am reminded of how insignificant I am, and when I

read this book, I am reminded of how small I am and how

insignificant I am. It's so easy to think of

ourselves as the main character, isn't it?

Like like most of us can have this mentality of like that this

world is the story. I am the main character and all

of you are background characters.

This is my story. I'm living in that story.

You're all background characters in my story.

This earth is the setting and I'm the main character.

And yet not only is it true that I am not the main character, I'm

not even in the text. I am a footnote in God's story.

A footnote. James asked this question, a

question that we should all ponder the rest of the day.

What is your life? What is your life?

This is similar to the questions that God asked Job.

He asked Job, Who is this that darkens counsel by words without

knowledge? Where were you?

What is your life? James tells us.

He tells us what it is you are, a mist that appears for a little

time and then vanishes. Humility acknowledges the

transitory and insignificant nature of our life.

I love these types of statements in the Bible.

Isaiah says that the nations are like a drop from the bucket and

as dust on the scales. The psalmist writes that our

days are like grass, the wind passes over it and it is gone.

God tells us in Genesis that we are dust and Bill Dad reminds us

that man is a maggot, a worm. James is wanting to highlight

that our life is very short. It's very insignificant.

And and we have to feel this because often it doesn't feel

like it's that short or that insignificant.

I love how in Christopher Nolan movies, Christopher Nolan's a

director. Some of you know who that is,

but you may not. I love that how he plays with

relativity. Relativity of time in his

movies, does it in multiple movies.

One of them is in the movie Interstellar.

They go to this planet, they're on the planet for just a few

hours, but then the guy back on the space shuttle has lived 23

years in that amount of time. So they get back in just a few

hours, but when they get back, he's lived 23 years.

I can only imagine this is how it is with God.

You see, for US, 80 years can feel like an eternity, but to

God it's like a millisecond. Our life is like a millisecond.

To God, it's like, that's it. There's so much talk in our

culture today about legacy, right?

You hear that? What's going to be your legacy,

right? So much talk about legacy.

What legacy will we leave? Brothers and sisters?

There's only one true legacy, and that is Jesus Christ

crucified and risen from the dead.

That's it. Nobody leaves a true legacy.

It's already been laid. 5 Whatever we desire to happen

will happen if God wills it. And whatever we desire to happen

will not happen, no matter how much we will it.

If God doesn't, we'll say it again.

Whatever we desire to happen will happen if God wills it, and

whatever we desire to happen will not happen no matter how

much we will it if God doesn't, James tells the self confident

planners. Instead, you ought to say if the

Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.

James is reminding them that God is sovereign and we are not.

Now God being sovereign is somewhat of a double edged

sword, is it not? What it means is that whatever

we desire to happen will happen. If God wills it.

That's a good thing. Whatever we desire to happen,

whatever you want to happen tomorrow, a week from now, a

month from now, a year from now, 10 years from now, whatever you

desire will happen in your future.

It will happen if God wills it. If God wills for a 90 year old

woman to have a child, she will have a child.

If God wills for a a corpse that has been dead for four days in a

tomb to be raised from the dead, he will walk out of the tomb.

If God wills for a Moabite woman to find a new husband in Israel,

she will have a new husband. If God wills that a prophet not

be the lion's dinner, then those lions will go hungry for the

night. Whatever we desire to happen

will happen if God wills it, and whatever we desire to happen

will not happen no matter how much we will it if God doesn't.

No matter how much a prophet wills to go to Tarsus, he will

not make it because God didn't will it.

No matter how long a prophet preaches repentance to Israel,

they will not repent because God didn't will it.

No matter how much 10 brothers try to get rid of their brother,

they won't get rid of him because God didn't will it.

No matter how much a king tries to kill a shepherd boy, he will

be unsuccessful because God didn't will it.

Whatever we desire to happen will happen if God wills it.

And whatever we desire to happen will not happen, no matter how

much you will it. If God doesn't, number six, if

the Lord wills. That statement is not fatalistic

or formulaic, but foundational. If the Lord wills, it's not

fatalistic, it's not formulaic, it is foundational.

Now some people will hear this statement, maybe just the point

that I just made in the application.

Some people hear the statement if the Lord wills as a statement

of fatalism. They will hear that as a

statement of fatalism. One of the reasons that some

people have a hard time admitting or accepting that we

don't have ultimate free will, right?

If I say we, you know, people ask, do we have free will, I

would say we don't have ultimate free will.

One of the reasons that people have a hard time accepting this

or admitting this, that we don't have ultimate free will is they

confuse this doctrine with what's known as fatalism or

perhaps hard determinism. They mistakenly believe that

this doctrine teaches that everything is already

predetermined by God and there's nothing we can do about it.

There's nothing we can do to change it.

And so if that's true, then we're nothing more than robots.

We're simply coding God's matrix.

That's the idea. But that's not the picture of

what we get in the Bible. That's not what the Bible

teaches. God allows His people to affect

His will. I've said this before and I'll

say it again. There are two phrases that we

shouldn't say. 2 phrases. There was many phrases we

shouldn't say, but here's 2 in this context. 2 phrases we

shouldn't say. A well, God's going to do what

God's going to do. Don't say that.

That's a statement of fatalism. What God is going to do is often

determined by what is. People pray or don't pray.

God allows you to affect what He's going to do.

Here's the second one. B.

When we pray, we shouldn't say if it's in your will, we

shouldn't pray. Lord, would you heal them if

it's in your will? You think about it, it, it, it's

somewhat it's, it's paradoxical, right?

If it's in his will, he's, he's going to heal them.

That's what it means to be in his will.

Instead, we should pray, Lord, would you be willing to heal

them? Would you be willing to heal

them? We are asking that God would be

willing to do this. This statement, if the Lord

wills, is not a fatalistic statement, nor is it formulaic.

It's not fatalistic, it's not formulaic.

What do I mean formulaic? This idea, if the Lord wills it,

exists in many religions in Islam Insha'allah.

If Allah wills, Judaism has their own version, Hinduism has

their own version, the Greco Roman world had their own

version. If the gods permit or you hear

if fate permits. We must be careful to not turn

this statement into a Christian formula right where we make

plans and then we say if the Lord wills as a tack on.

It's not a formula. It's like in Jesus name, it's

like praying for a Ferrari and at the end saying in Jesus name

that prayer is not in Jesus name.

No matter how much you say that, it does no good for these people

to say today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town,

spend a year there, trade, make a profit.

If the Lord wills, if that is nothing more than lip service,

if it just becomes a formula, thinking that it will give them

a greater chance of success if the Lord wills is not

fatalistic. It's not formulaic.

Well, then, what is it? It is foundational.

It's foundational meaning the statement is meant to reflect a

heart that is founded, that is who finds its foundation

submitted to the will of the Lord.

When you when you say the Lord wills, it means listen.

If God's will is for us not to go into this town, man, we

really want to go into this town because they love our olive oil.

I know that it feels like God's directing us here, but we'll

make way more profit over here. If God's will is not for us to

go into this town, we won't force our way there.

If God's will is for us not to stay a year, we've been here six

months, profits through the roof, why would we leave?

If God's will is for us to leave at six months, then we will

leave at six months. We won't stay a day longer than

he wills. If God's will is for us not to

make a lot of money, that's a hard one.

I talked to college graduates, you know, about getting jobs,

and I'm like, have you ever considered that it's God's will

that you not make a lot of money?

It's like blasphemy. You ever thought about that?

What if it's God's will that you not often hear?

What about kids? And you know, when I hear that,

I'm like, do you think like, what are you saying about my

kids? Are they going to be itty beanie

weenies the rest of their life? If it's not God's will that we

make a lot of money, we will be content with what God gives.

Seven last point. Plans that leave God out of the

equation are arrogant plans. Plans that leave God out of the

equation are arrogant plans. Verse 16 gets at the heart of

what's wrong with their plans. There is absolutely nothing

wrong with them wanting to go to this town.

There's nothing wrong with them wanting to spend a year there.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to make a profit.

Some of these anti capitalistic people will read this and be

like see they should make a profit.

That's not what this is teaching.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to make a profit.

So what is wrong with the statement?

It leaves God out of the equation.

It leaves God out of the equation.

In their startup business plan, there is no line item for God.

And James says that when God is left out of your plans, you wise

plans. You may have intelligent plans,

you may have well thought out plans, you may have detailed

plans. But you have arrogant plans.

A person who consistently procrastinates is not just late,

they are arrogant because they assume they have all the time in

the world. A person who doesn't get proper

sleep is not just foolish, they are arrogant because they think

that human limitations don't apply to them.

A person who doesn't rely on others is not just private nor

they just independent. They are arrogant because they

don't see their need for support, and the person who

makes plans without God being the center of those plans is

arrogant because it assumes we have control over our life.

Brothers and sisters, God is not a part of the equation.

He is the equation. Humility acknowledges.

Humility acknowledges that God always has the power to lovingly

and wisely wreck all of my plans.

Let's pray.