Arrogance of Assumption

"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 then vanishes.

Instead, you ought to say,

'If it is the Lord's will,

we will live and do this or that.'

As it is,

you boast in your arrogant schemes. 

All such boasting is evil.

If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do

and doesn't do it,

it is sin for them."

James 4:13-17

It is easy to count on that which may not happen.   Pastor and writer John Piper once challenged my arrogance of this kind of assumption when I heard him say that I shouldn't be surprised when someone dies.  Instead, I should be amazed when I am blessed with another moment to live.  

If I am to live as if my life is not my own, as disciples of Jesus are called to live, then there are some basics I must accept. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Life is a Gift

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."  

You may recognize this familiar phrase as taken from the Declaration of Independence.  Americans rely on such rights as members of a free society where our liberties are vital to the welfare of the people.  This right to life extends also to the unborn, whose claims to life have been taken away in the country since 1973.  While God upholds the sanctity of life, I'm not sure that He would agree with the assertion that I have a right to live.

You see, life is a gift.  Every breathe I take is only at the mercy of the Giver of life.  He is the only One with a right:  The right to give, and the right to take. (Exodus 33:19)  He decides the length of my life, and only He knows how long I have left. (Psalm 139:16)  Life is fragile and is completely in the hands of God.

Once I comprehend and accept this truth, I will begin to live differently.  Instead of wasting the time God has given to me, I will look for ways to honor Him and glorify His name in all I do.  (Colossians 3:17)  As a replacement for taking all the good things I have for granted, I will adopt an attitude of thanksgiving.  In the place of living recklessly for myself I will begin to give my all for Him.  

Instead of assuming I'll have tomorrow, I desire to live each day as if it were a gift from God; because it is!

God is Sovereign

My plans were all laid out.  I would graduate from college and use my degree to build a fulfilling career.  After that, maybe I would get married and have children, but that wasn't high on my list of priorities.  As I look back the thirty years that has passed since I graduated from high school when my head was filled with such thoughts of the future, I realize how wrong I was about how my life would turn out.

Instead of building a fulfilling career, I became an Army wife and mom of four daughters.  I would never trade the life I've lived, but it was not the life I would have ever chosen for myself.  Thankfully, God knows better and He has a plan for my life that I could never imagine.  (Jeremiah 29:11, Ephesians 3:20)

Once I comprehend this truth and let God be in the driver's seat of my life, a peace will flood my heart as I stop trying to find my own blueprint for the days I have left.  

Where once I would try so hard to be the person I thought God wanted me to be, I will find I can move forward onto the path He has cleared for me, free from the self-imposed pressure I place to become someone I was never destined to be.

Instead of working so hard to fulfill my own strategies, I can wait for God to reveal the way He wants me to go.  

Living like I believe that God is sovereign will mean I can stop trying to impress Him and as a replacement simply live in relationship with Him.  He loves me as I am; and He loves me more than I can imagine.

Instead of assuming I am in control, I desire to live each day out of obedience to the One who holds the blueprint for my life.

Obedience

We've all seen it:  The expert dog trainer whose own 'best friend' is out of control.  Or the exercise instructor who can't complete his own workout regime.  Or the financial planner who is going through bankruptcy.  Knowledge is all well and good, but what good is it if I can't apply it to my own life?

Learning more about God by reading His Word is not just to grow my brain size.  Studying the Bible is not so I can retain more knowledge about God.  Rather, spending time sitting at the feet of Jesus as He teaches me His ways through the study of His Word is so that I will take what I have learned and apply it to my own life.  (James 1:22)

If I am not willing to do what I am told, can I really consider myself to be a disciple of Christ?  Instead, it is more like I am an observer, or a student.  A follower, however, is one who does as her leader does.

When God shows me about His compassion, it is so that I will realize my own lack of mercy and forgiveness toward others, seeking instead to extend grace liberally wherever I go.  When God shows me about His rest, I can either find it interesting or I can strive to enter into the rest that comes with trusting Him, putting His Word into practice.  When God shows me about His claim on my life, I can choose to continue to live my life my way, or I can surrender all to Him as my Redeemer.  

Instead of assuming that I can continue to live as I always have, I desire to live each day in obedience to what He is constantly teaching me.

It is all too easy to take things for granted and assume what I should never believe.  Instead, I can live with the understanding that life is a gift, God is in control, and that obedience is important.  In these ways I will avoid the arrogance of assumption.

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I will never count on that which is out of my control.

How do I assume I'll be here tomorrow in the way I make my plans?

When do I brush off the lessons God is teaching me?