Our Will vs God’s Will

Reading of the Text

James 4:13–17 (CSB)

“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.’ Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes. Instead, you should say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’ But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it.”

PRAY

OPENING ILLUSTRATION

Some of us live by calendars.

Appointments. Meetings. Deadlines. Travel. Family plans. Long-term goals.

And there is nothing wrong with that.

But every now and then, life reminds us that our calendars are written in dry-erase marker, not permanent ink.

One phone call can change a week. One diagnosis can change a year. One unexpected loss can change an entire direction.

We make plans like they are fixed. But James reminds us how fragile we really are.

He is not rebuking diligence. He is rebuking presumption.

He is confronting the kind of heart that speaks confidently about tomorrow while leaving God out of the conversation.

And that is exactly where James begins.

SLIDE Big Idea: Wisdom submits our plans, our future, and our obedience to the will of God.

SLIDE- OBSERVATION 1: Pride Makes Plans Without God (v.13)

Transition

James now turns from conflict, pride, and judgment to another way pride reveals itself:

not just in how we treat people, but in how we think about our future.

Verse 13:

“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.’”

Notice how confident and detailed their (the people James is referring to) planning is.

SLIDE- James says they already have:

a schedule - “today or tomorrow” 

a destination - “such and such a city” 

a timeline - “spend a year there”  

a strategy - “do business” 

an expected result - “make a profit” 

In other words, they have the whole future arranged in their minds.

The only problem is, they have arranged it without reference to God.

This list is organized. Structured. Intentional.

When you look at this list, you can gather that James is talking down to responsibility, but James is not condemning responsibility.

He is not saying planning is sinful.

He is saying planning without reference to God is prideful.

Because the issue here is not a calendar.

The issue, as we have seen throughout the book of James is and has always been, a heart posture.

It is a way of speaking that assumes:

“I know what tomorrow holds.” “I control where this is going.” “I determine the outcome.”

Press the point

This is what pride sounds like in ordinary life.

Not always loud arrogance. Not always chest-Bumping rebellion.

Sometimes pride sounds very respectable.

“I’ve got my five-year plan.” “I know exactly what I’m doing next.” “I’ve already mapped it all out.”

And none of those things are wrong on their own.

But when God is absent from our planning, our planning becomes an expression of self-rule.

It is not wrong to make plans.

It is wrong to make plans as though God has no say in them.

Application

It’s important to not excuse yourself from this behavior, because Some of us don’t shake our fist at God. We simply move forward without Him.

We don’t ask. We don’t seek. We don’t submit.

We just assume tomorrow is ours to manage, and our plans are ours to keep.

And James says that kind of life may look wise on the outside, but underneath it is deeply proud.

SLIDE OBSERVATION 2: Our Lives Are Too Fragile to Be Spoken of So Proudly (v.14)

Transition

James now confronts the assumption underneath their plans.

Why is it foolish to speak so confidently about tomorrow?

Because we are not nearly as in control as we think.

Verse 14:

“Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring, what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes.”

James gives us two sobering realities.

SLIDE - 1. We do not know tomorrow

“You do not know what tomorrow will bring.”

That is humbling.

We don’t know what tomorrow holds. We don’t know what a week from now looks like. We don’t even know what this afternoon may bring.

We speak confidently about things that we do not actually control.

We don’t control the phone call the call that reshapes the day in a moment.

We don’t control the diagnosis the reality that reminds us how fragile we are.

We don’t control the delay the setback that pushes our plans off schedule.

We don’t control the interruption the unexpected situation that demands our attention.

And James is not trying to make us fearful.

He is trying to make us humble.

SLIDE 2. Our lives are brief

“For you are like vapor…”

The word picture is mist. Breath on a cold morning. Steam rising off a cup. Visible for a moment. Gone just as quickly.

James is not saying life has no value.

He is saying life has no permanence apart from God.

Lean in here

However, We like to plan like we are permanent, filling calendars and building timelines as if tomorrow is guaranteed.

SLIDE The day we are born is also the day our brief vapor of life begins to rise.

James reminds us we are passing through.

We speak as though we own the future, but we don’t even own our next breath.

Why this matters

If life is brief, then pride is foolish.

If life is vapor, then boasting is absurd.

If tomorrow is uncertain, then self-confidence is unstable ground.

A fragile life should not be lived with arrogant certainty.

Application

This should not make us panic. It should make us pray.

It should not make us cynical. It should make us dependent.

Because the brevity of life is not meant to drive us into despair. It is meant to drive us into the hands of God.

SLIDE OBSERVATION 3: Wisdom Submits Every Plan to the Will of God (v.15)

Transition

James has shown us what not to do.

Now he shows us the better posture.

Verse 15:

“Instead, you should say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’”

This is not magic language. James is not giving us a Christian slogan to tack onto our sentences.

This is deeper than vocabulary.

This is about posture.

SLIDE “If the Lord wills…”

That phrase means:

“God, You are in control.” “God, my future belongs to You.” “God, my life is not self-directed.” “God, I will make plans, but I will hold them with open hands.”

This is not passivity.

This is submission.

Not laziness. Not fatalism. Not indecision.

Submission.

Clarify it

SLIDE- Biblical submission does not mean you stop planning.

It means you stop worshiping your plans.

It means your plans no longer sit on the throne.

God does.

Practical contrast

Pride says:

“I will do this.”

“I will go there.”

“I will make this happen.”

Submission says:

“This is what I hope to do— but the Lord’s will is better than mine.”

Pride says:

“My timeline, my terms, my outcome.”

Submission says:

“God, redirect me if You want. Restrain me if You want. Open the door if You want. Close it if You want.”

A few submission phrases

Submission says:

“God, Your will is better than mine.” “Your way is wiser than what I feel right now.” “I lay down my preferences for Your purposes.” “I trust Your plan more than my instincts.”

Drive it home

This matters because the direction of your life will always follow the authority you trust most.

Application

So yes, make plans. Prepare. Think ahead. Lead well. Use wisdom.

But do it all with a surrendered heart.

Not clenched fists. Open hands.

The issue is not whether you plan.

The issue is whether your plans are submitted.

SLIDE- OBSERVATION 4: Boasting in Self-Rule Is Evil Before God (v.16)

Transition

James now names the heart issue directly.

Verse 16:

“But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.”

That is strong language.

Why?

Because James wants us to see that this is not a personality trait

This is not harmless confidence.

James is calling a spade a spade and says; This is arrogance.

The word carries the idea of empty pride. Boastful self-confidence. Living as though we are more secure, more capable, and more independent than we really are.

Slide What is the boasting?

is speaking of living with self-confidence that exalts yourself instead of humbly depending on God

It is not just saying words out loud.

It is the inward boast of a heart that says:

“I’ve got this.” “I know what I’m doing.” “I can handle my future.” “I don’t need to stop and ask God.”

That kind of self-sufficiency may be admired by the world.

James calls it evil.

Why so strong?

Because any posture that pushes God to the edges and puts self at the center is not neutral.

It is rebellion dressed up as confidence.

Planning without God is not just forgetfulness.

It is functional independence.

moving forward with confidence while prayer, dependence, and submission are nowhere in the process.

Application

We need to ask:

Where am I moving ahead without God? Where have I assumed instead of prayed? Where have I spoken confidently about tomorrow without humbly acknowledging who holds tomorrow?

Because sometimes our greatest problem is not open disobedience.

It is subtle independence.

SLIDE - OBSERVATION 5: Knowing God’s Will Means We Must Obey It Today (v.17)

James closes with a verse that widens the whole passage.

Verse 17:

“So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it.”

This takes the sermon out of the realm of theory.

James will not let this be informational only.

Illustration

It’s like hearing a smoke alarm going off in the house.

You know what that sound means. You know something is wrong. You know you need to respond.

But imagine just sitting there saying,

“I hear it.” “I know what it means.” “I agree that something should be done.”

And then doing nothing.

The danger is not that you lacked information.

The danger is that you refused response.

That’s where James lands in verse 17.

He says if you know the right posture, and refuse to walk in it, that is sin.

Not just doing evil. But neglecting known obedience.

Lean into it

This means sin is not only what I commit.

It is also what I omit.

Not only the wrong I do. But the right I refuse.

If I know I should submit, but I cling to control — that is sin.

If I know I should pray, but I keep assuming that is sin.

If I know I should seek God’s will, but I keep living by my own — that is sin.

Why James ends here

Because the temptation in a text like this is to nod in agreement.

“Yes, that’s true.” “Yes, God is sovereign.” “Yes, we should say, ‘if the Lord wills.’”

And James says:

That is not enough.

Hearing the alarm is not the same as answering it.

Knowing the good is not the same as doing it.

If you know the good, do it.

Right theology without surrendered obedience is still disobedience.

Application

Some people in the room do not need more information.

They need surrender.

They need to stop delaying what God has already made clear. whether that is forgiving someone, ending compromise, surrendering control, or taking the next step of obedience.

Not next month. Not when it becomes easier. Not when it fits the plan.

Bringing It Together

James gives us two ways to live.

SLIDE - The self-ruled life

“I plan.” “I decide.” “I control.” “I assume.” “I boast.”

The God-submitted life

“I seek.” “I trust.” “I submit.” “I obey.” “I hold tomorrow with open hands.”

And James is not asking whether you have goals. He is asking who rules your heart while you pursue them.

Gospel Reflection

At the center of this passage is the battle between our will and God’s will.

And that battle did not begin with us.

It shows up most clearly in Gethsemane.

Jesus, facing the cross, prayed:

“Not my will, but yours be done.”

Where we cling to control, Jesus surrendered completely.

Where we boast in our plans, Jesus entrusted Himself to the Father.

Where we resist obedience, Jesus obeyed to the point of death.

And because He did, we are not merely told to surrender.

We are enabled to surrender.

Because the same Christ who obeyed perfectly for us now gives grace to reshape our hearts.

So this passage is not simply calling you to try harder.

It is calling you to bow lower.

To trust deeper.

To submit more fully to the God whose will is always wiser than your own.

Closing / Response

As we close, I want to give you a few prayer prompts. You can pray quietly where you are, or pray with someone next to you.

Prayer prompts:

“Lord, show me where I’ve been making plans without You.”

“Show me where I’ve been clinging to control instead of trusting Your will.”

“Reveal what obedience I’ve been delaying.”

“Teach me to hold my future with open hands before You.”

Take a moment now and bring those things honestly before the Lord.