Scripture
“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.’” James 4:13-15 (NIV)

It’s not wrong to have goals, aspirations or dreams. They are what propel us through school, through our careers and through life. But what happens when those dreams don’t align with God’s will? What if that dream job steals you away from His purpose? James isn’t saying “don’t dream;” he’s telling us to focus our eyes on God and the right aspirations will come our way.

 

We are a mist that appears for a short time and then dissipates. While we mean the world to our Father, we mean little to the world. We’re a blip on it’s timeline, here today and gone tomorrow. But we can rest easy knowing we’re part of God’s plan, one that stretches throughout eternity. He knows what happened yesterday, what’s happening today and what will happen tomorrow. Our complete trust in His plan will make us successful in the most important endeavor: spreading His Kingdom.

 

Here’s a tough question for you to tackle today: When you think of your dreams, do you think of God? Do you take James’s advice and first say, “If it’s the Lord’s will, I would love to accomplish this.” Or do you follow the world and say, “If I am capable all on my own, it will get done.”

 

There’s no shame if it’s the latter. We all fall victim to the dream of self-sufficiency the world encourages, but we’ll never know true success and fulfillment until we first pursue God’s dreams.

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