The Epistle of James - Godly Values
Part 34 - Trust God and Obey Him
James 4v16-17
8th February 2019
Last time we read these words:
James 4v13-15
Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there,
carry on business and make money."
Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that
appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."
Some people are threatened or confused by the idea that God is in control, but He really is! Of course He is! He's God! He made the universe, He sustains the universe, and He's omnipotent. He can do what He likes. And He's not careless with the universe. I'm really glad He's in control.
James has taught us not to assume that we know what we'll be doing tomorrow, nor to assume that what we plan to do will succeed, nor even that we'll be alive tomorrow, because we don't God control these things, God does. Now he continues:
James 4v16
As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.
James tells us that for us to think in terms of our being able to plan the future with any degree of confidence is boasting and bragging – that it is sin to do so. You might feel that's a bit harsh, but the reason we have confidence in our plans is our own arrogance. We forget how weak we are. We forget how fragile we are. We forget that, as James tells us, "You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes".
Our health is fragile. We could catch a fatal disease tomorrow. One of the finest Christians I know died of cancer last year aged just 64. Our mental health is fragile. Great political leaders such as Winston Churchill, and great church leaders such as Charles Spurgeon, suffered from profound depression. Some Christian marriages are fragile. Many Christian friendships are fragile. Our churches are fragile. Our careers are fragile. Many good Christians who thought their financial futures were safe have been thrown onto the unemployment line.
Maybe you don't like the idea of God being in control because you want be in control. I'm sorry, but you're not. Even the most strong-minded of us, the most stubborn, the most powerful, the best-connected, the cleverest, the richest, is not in control. Diana the Princess of Wales had wealth, beauty, connections and even bodyguards. But she was cut off in her prime.
God is in control:
Proverbs 19:21
Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.
I'm very glad God is in control. I'm convinced that God is wiser than I am. I'm convinced God is more powerful than I am. I'm convinced God loves me more than I love myself.
The Psalmist says,
Psalm 103:15-16
As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
We need to adjust our thinking. We need a reality check. We need humility; the humility to acknowledge that we can't stop God doing what He likes, to acknowledge that it would be foolish to try, to accept that we can't stay alive a day longer than He's decided, we can't thwart His plans, even if we think we know better than Him, and we need the faith to accept that whatever happens tomorrow is also part of God's plan, and ultimately is good.
If you find this difficult, pray about it, asking God to give you this kind of faith.
We can be angry with God when He does something we don't like, or doesn't do something we would like. We can doubt God, and try to provide for ourselves what He will generously provide for us. We can make our own plans, but they won't succeed. Or we can trust that God knows best, and God is able to accomplish exactly what He intends, and choose to trust and obey Him.
Psalm 103 continues:
Psalm 103:17-18
But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children's children —
with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
So we're wise if we do things God's way, and trust Him for the consequences.
Luke 12:22-34
Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.
Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.
Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God
feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you, not even
Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is
thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!
And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it.
For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them.
But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom."
Trust God and obey Him. It's a much easier way to live, and it works much better.
James says:
James 4v17
Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.
Because God is Lord of heaven and earth, because God is Lord of history - Lord of the present and Lord of the future, because compared to God all people are just like grass, we have a moral duty to live the way God requires us to live.
Because God is love, we are required to love. Jesus taught that what God requires is that we love the Lord our God with all our hearts, and our souls, and all our strength, and love our neighbours as much as we love ourselves. It's not enough for us to refrain from sins like drunkenness, adultery and slander. Righteousness, holiness and goodness, are not just about what we don't do, they're about what we do do.
There's no sin in a graveyard, but there's no love there, either.
We're only on this earth for a short time. Let's do all the good we can with the years left to us. Let's leave this world a more godly place than we found it, more full of love, grace, truth and peace.
As George Mueller said, "nobody ever lied on his death bed thinking, 'I wish I'd served God less'".
As John Wesley said, "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."