Philip Dampier's Blog

Chapter 4, Verse 14 “…yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”

Two great thoughts from James in this verse. First of all we have no idea of the future fortune of any of our plans. We may make good plans but we have no guarantee that they will succeed. We cannot see beyond the present moment of our lives. This means that we have no control beyond what little we possess at the very moment.

James reminds us of who and what we are with the question ‘what is your life?’ We can become so full of ourselves that we lose sight of who and what we are. We may sense that we have more control over our lives than we do; but that would be a tragic mistake. In truth, James reminds us we are nothing more than a vapor. A temporary, very temporary visitor to God’s earth. That should impress upon us how feeble we are in regards to control of our lives.

We make plans, James is saying, as if we had some control on their outcome. We actually have no control over our next breath. There are a myriad of ways our earthly lives can end in the twinkling of an eye. It’s time to stop and come to grips with who is in charge of this world and in particular, our lives.

Task for Today: Admit that we are powerless over anything in the future including our next breath. In doing so, we will come to understand that we are totally dependent on God for the outcome of every endeavor. This should produce a healthy dose of humility to all we plan and dream of.