We drove 3,000 miles in 10 days to see family…and they call it “vacation”!

Scripture

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.” As it is, you boast and brag. James 4:14-16

Observation

How do you paddle a cloud?

The answer is obvious. Just as there is no rudder on a hot air balloon so there is no way to navigate a cumulus across the sky. Our life is a fog that melts away as it tries to hold onto the earth.. Any notion we may have of being able to direct the course of our lives is an illusion. Our life is marshaled by the Lord even when we think we are taking our own way. We are caught in the jet stream of God’s will.

But even so, it seems that we still have a part to play in finding God’s direction in our lives. There are two parts of the phrase. The first says, “If it is the Lord’s will.” But it does not stop there. The phrase continues to read, “We will live to do this or that.” God makes room for our planning in the midst of his purposes.

That’s why it says in the Proverb, “A man makes his plan but the Lord orders his steps.” Or again when Jesus told us to, “Ask, seek, knock.” Prayer is not a passive thing of waiting for God to do everything. There is a place for planning and action, but always with an awareness that in the end we can no more move ourselves around the planet than a cloud can scoot itself across the sky.

Application

We can plan only because the Lord has put desires into our hearts. If I am to find God’s will and direction I must live with the adaptable life of a cloud. I cannot cling to my will anymore than a cloud can moor to a flagpole. When I am direct-able new doors open.

Prayer

Father, on one hand you don’t need my permission to direct my life, yet because you want relationship with me that’s what you wait for. You lead me as you will into what you want for my life.