26 May Lose the Crystal Ball and Find Jesus

I don’t pay attention to pro football anymore (That’s a topic for another post.), but I couldn’t help clicking on a story the other day about the Green Bay Packers. A sportswriter was predicting the Packers’ win-loss record for 2024. The author went through the schedule, game by game, explaining why he thought the Packers would win or lose each game. I couldn’t help but chuckle.

No rosters are set. Some rookies may shine, some veterans may fade. Packers’ fans may like his prediction of a 12-5 record, but it isn’t even an educated guess. I say that because there are just too many unknowns to call it a prediction or educated. It’s entirely possible the Packers will win 12 games, but having no idea of how each game will play out is what draws fans to every sport. The truth is, we tend to live life the same way: putting completely unjustified faith in our own crystal ball. James, the half-brother of Jesus, warned against this:

13 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.” 14 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. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. James 4:13-17 (NIV)

Be clear here, James is saying it is sinful to boast of your own plans so arrogantly, as if your future was entirely independent of God’s will: “all such boasting is evil.” He harps on the specifics of our boasting:

• When: “today or tomorrow”
• Where: “this or that city”
• How long: “a year”
• What: “carry on business”
• Why: “make money”

God may have completely different plans for us. James doesn’t mess around here. He says to clutch our plans so tightly and regard God’s control so lightly is evil. A sportswriter attempts to predict the unpredictable for entertainment value. When we take the cavalier attitude to our futures, we are forgetting that we control nothing and God controls everything. James again: Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” (v. 15)

William MacDonald in the Believer’s Bible Commentary makes this observation: “He never once takes God into his business. In life, it is necessary to make some plans for the future, but to do so in self-will is sinful. To say “we will” or “I will” is the essence of sin.”

MacDonald’s point is this: planning for the future isn’t sinful but etching them in stone is because it removes God’s control. Give God some room to work in your life. Lose the crystal ball and trust your life to God. You will be amazed at how much better you sleep at night.