The Will of God - Ignoring God's Will
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Intro
Intro
James began chapter 4 talking about war with God, and he ends it talking about the will of God.
But the two themes are related: when a believer is out of the will of God, he becomes a troublemaker and not a peacemaker.
Lot moved into Sodom and brought trouble to his family.
David committed adultery and brought trouble to his family and his kingdom.
Jonah disobeyed God and almost sent a shipload of heathen sailors into a watery grave.
In each case, there was a wrong attitude toward the will of God.
That God would have a plan for each of our lives is an obvious truth.
He is a God of wisdom and knows what ought to happen and when it should occur. And, as a God of love, He must desire the very best for His children.
Too many Christians look on the will of God as bitter medicine they must take, instead of seeing it as the gracious evidence of the love of God.
The safest place in the world is right where God wants you.”
In this section of his letter, James pointed out three attitudes toward the will of God.
Of course, only one of them is the correct one, the one that every Christian ought to cultivate.
Ignoring God’s Will
Ignoring God’s Will
13 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”—
14 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.
16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
Perhaps James was addressing the wealthy merchants in the assembly. They might have discussed their business deals and boasted about their plans.
There is no evidence that they sought the will of God or prayed about their decisions.
They measured success in life by how many times they got their own way and accomplished what they had planned.
But James presented four arguments that revealed the foolishness of ignoring the will of God.
The complexity of life
The complexity of life
13 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”—
Think of all that is involved in life: today, tomorrow, buying, selling, getting gain, losing, going here, going there.
Life is made up of people and places, activities and goals, days and years; and each of us must make many crucial decisions day after day.
Apart from the will of God, life is a mystery.
When you know Jesus Christ as your Saviour, and seek to do His will, then life starts to make sense.
Even the physical world around you takes on new meaning.
There is a simplicity and unity to your life that makes for poise and confidence.
You are no longer living in a mysterious, threatening universe.
You can sing, “This is my Father’s world!”
The uncertainty of life
The uncertainty of life
14 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.
This statement is based on Proverbs 27:1—“Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”
These businessmen were making plans for a whole year when they could not even see ahead into one day!
See how confident they were: “We will go. We will stay a year. We will buy and sell and make a profit.”
Their attitude reminds us of the farmer in the parable of Jesus in Luke 12:16–21.
The man had a bumper crop; his barns were too small; so he decided to build bigger barns and have greater security for the future.
19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’
What was God’s reply to this man’s boasting?
20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’
Life is not uncertain to God, but it is uncertain to us.
Only when we are in His will can we be confident of tomorrow, for we know that He is leading us.
The brevity of life
The brevity of life
14 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.
This is one of the repeated themes of Scripture.
To us, life seems long and we measure it in years; but in comparison to eternity, life is but a vapor.
James borrowed that figure from the Book of Job where you find many pictures of the brevity of life.
6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle and come to their end without hope.
9 As the cloud fades and vanishes, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up;
9 For we are but of yesterday and know nothing, for our days on earth are a shadow.
25 “My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away; they see no good.
1 “Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble.
2 He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not.
We count our years at each birthday, but God tells us to number our days.
12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
After all, we live a day at a time, and those days rush by quickly the older we grow.
Since life is so brief, we cannot afford merely to “spend our lives”; and we certainly do not want to “waste our lives.”
We must invest our lives in those things that are eternal.
God reveals His will in His Word, and yet most people ignore the Bible.
In the Bible, God gives precepts, principles, and promises that can guide us in every area of life.
Knowing and obeying the Word of God is the surest way to success.
The frailty of man
The frailty of man
16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
“As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil” (niv).
Man’s boasting only covers up man’s weakness.
“Man proposes but God disposes,” wrote Thomas Áa Kempis.
Solomon said it first:
33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.
Man cannot control future events. He has neither the wisdom to see the future nor the power to control the future.
For him to boast is sin; it is making himself God.
Conclusion
Conclusion
How foolish it is for people to ignore the will of God.
It is like going through the dark jungles without a map, or over the stormy seas without a compass.
Cango caves - pitch dark - without a light and a map we would be lost forever.
“Stay close to your guide.” Good counsel indeed!