As we begin this new devotional journey, I want us to reflect on how God has been preparing our hearts through His Word. Over the past several weeks, our teachings have taken us through a spiritual progression of confronting our flesh, surrendering our desires, and developing a deeper, more personal relationship with Him. And now, I believe God is calling us to examine something we often take for granted: the gift of time and how we are living the days He has entrusted to us.
We began with our three-part series, “Crucify the Flesh,” where we learned that surrender requires more than an emotional decision. According to Galatians 5:24 and Matthew 16:24, following Jesus requires us to deny ourselves, confront the desires that compete with the Holy Spirit, and make a daily commitment to walk in obedience. But crucifying the flesh is not simply about what we stop doing. It is about allowing God to lead us in how we live.
From there, we moved into “For I Know: From Surrender to a Personal Declaration.” Like Job, who declared, “For I know that my redeemer liveth” (Job 19:25), we were challenged to move beyond knowing about God to knowing Him personally. We learned to declare His faithfulness, not merely because someone told us He is faithful, but because we have experienced His sustaining power in our own lives. But now I want to ask you something. What happens when the God you know does not move according to the plans you have made? What happens when you know His character but do not know His calendar? Can you still trust Him when His will requires you to surrender your expectations?
This brings us to our new three-week devotional journey, “The Gift of Today, His Will, My Stewardship, His Breath.” During our first week, “If It Is the Lord’s Will,” we will examine what it means to surrender tomorrow and live within the confines of the day God has given us, according to James 4:13–17. During our second week, “The Unfinished Business of Today,” we will examine what we have been postponing and how we are stewarding our opportunities and responsibilities, remembering the instruction in Ephesians 5:15–16 to redeem the time. Finally, in our third week, “The Space Between the Breaths,” we will reflect upon Acts 17:28 and learn to recognize God’s Presence in the ordinary moments of our lives, remembering that in Him we live, move, and have our being.
But before we can examine our unfinished business or appreciate the breath in our bodies, we must first address our relationship with time and surrender. James 4:13–17 reminds us that we can make plans, establish timelines, and anticipate outcomes without acknowledging the One who holds our tomorrow. James describes our lives as a vapor that appears briefly and then vanishes. His message is not that we should stop planning, but that we should stop living as though tomorrow belongs to us.
And I do not want us to receive this truth with fear, but with wisdom. Life being brief does not make it insignificant; it makes every moment precious. We cannot relive yesterday, and we cannot live tomorrow ahead of time. Yet how often do we spend today carrying yesterday’s disappointments or worrying about tomorrow’s uncertainties? We become so focused on where God is taking us that we overlook where He is meeting us right now. That is why this prayer will guide our first week, “Father, teach me how to live within the confines of my day, that I may flow in Your Presence in my present, and not in tomorrow nor my past, in the Name of Jesus Christ.”
And here is where everything we have been studying comes together. “For I Know” is my declaration of confidence in God, but “If the Lord Wills” is my declaration of submission to God. I know He is faithful, so I can trust Him with tomorrow. I know He is sovereign, so I can surrender my plans. I know He is present, so I can live faithfully in today without being consumed by what has not yet happened. And I want you to carry this truth in your heart, knowing God does not mean knowing everything He is going to do. Spiritual maturity is learning to trust His character while surrendering to His will. One journey. Three connected teachings. One central purpose: to surrender tomorrow, steward today, and recognize God in every breath.
Let’s Begin Day One: If It Is The Lord’s Will, The Maturity Of Surrender!
James 4:13–17 (NIV) ~ 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.”
Have you ever stopped to consider how much of your life is already planned before you even open your eyes in the morning? Perhaps your alarm goes off, and before your feet touch the floor, your mind is already moving through everything you need to accomplish. You begin thinking about the appointments on your calendar, the responsibilities waiting at work, the people who need something from you, the bills that must be paid, the conversations you need to have, and the assignments that still require your attention. Before you have fully entered the day, you are mentally living several hours ahead of where you actually are.
And if you are not careful, you can become so occupied with what you intend to do that you forget to acknowledge the One who has allowed you to wake up and do anything at all. This is where James 4:13–17 meets you. To understand the weight of this passage, you must first understand what James was addressing. The book of James was written to believers who needed practical instruction concerning how genuine faith should influence their everyday conduct. Throughout the letter, James challenges believers to examine the relationship between what they profess and how they actually live. He addresses trials, wisdom, speech, favoritism, pride, worldliness, and the responsibility of putting faith into action. James is not content with a faith that sounds convincing but produces little evidence of transformation.
In James chapter 4, the discussion centers on desires, conflicts, pride, humility, and submission to God. Earlier in the chapter, James declares in verse 7, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Then in verse 10, he instructs believers to humble themselves in the sight of the Lord. By the time you arrive at verses 13–17, James applies that same principle of humility to something you may not immediately recognize as a spiritual issue: the way you make plans for your life.
James presents the example of merchants who confidently announce that they will travel to a particular city, remain there for a year, conduct business, and make a profit. Their plans appear reasonable. They have considered their destination, established their timeline, identified their activities, and anticipated their financial success. There is nothing in the passage suggesting that traveling, conducting business, or earning a profit is inherently wrong. The problem is the attitude of self-sufficiency reflected in their certainty, they speak as though they control the future.
And before you distance yourself from these merchants, consider how easily you can find yourself doing the same thing. You may not be planning to travel to another city to buy and sell merchandise, but perhaps you have already determined how your next season should unfold. You have decided when a particular door should open, how a relationship should develop, what your financial situation should look like, when your ministry should expand, or how quickly a difficult circumstance should change. You may have prayed about those things, but somewhere along the way, your expectations may have become so fixed that any interruption feels like something has gone wrong.
What happens when the appointment is canceled, the opportunity is delayed, the answer is different from what you expected, or the path you carefully planned suddenly changes? Do you immediately become frustrated, fearful, or discouraged? Do you begin questioning God’s faithfulness because the outcome does not resemble what you imagined? James is inviting you to examine whether you have placed your confidence in God or in the certainty of your plans. Proverbs 16:9 reminds you, “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.” This scripture does not condemn your ability to think, prepare, or make decisions. Instead, it establishes the proper relationship between your planning and God’s direction. You may devise the way, but you must remain willing for the Lord to direct your steps. Proverbs 19:21 reinforces this truth by declaring, “There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.”
You can have a plan without making your plan an idol. You can establish goals without becoming controlled by the outcome. You can prepare for tomorrow without presuming that tomorrow belongs to you. Spiritual maturity is demonstrated when you can make responsible plans while remaining humble enough to acknowledge that God’s wisdom exceeds your understanding.
In our previous devotional series, “For I Know, From Surrender to a Personal Declaration,” you were challenged to move beyond knowing about God into developing a personal conviction concerning who He is. You stood with Job and declared, “For I know that my redeemer liveth” (Job 19:25). That declaration was especially powerful because Job spoke from a place of suffering and uncertainty. His circumstances had not provided him with all the answers, but his confidence in his Redeemer remained. Now consider what happens when that confidence is tested through surrender.
You may know that God is faithful, but can you trust His faithfulness when His timing differs from yours? You may know that God is your provider, but can you remain at peace when you do not know how a particular need will be met? You may know that God orders your steps, but can you follow when His direction leads you away from something you had already decided you wanted? These questions reveal the difference between declaring your confidence in God’s character and submitting your expectations to God’s authority.
You may have learned to crucify the flesh through daily self-denial, as Jesus teaches in Matthew 16:24. You may have confronted attitudes, desires, and patterns that once controlled your decisions. Yet surrender must reach beyond the things you recognize as sinful. Sometimes what must be surrendered is your insistence on controlling something that is not inherently wrong. Your desire may be good. Your goal may be honorable. Your plan may be carefully considered. But even a good plan must remain subject to God’s will.
Think about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. In Luke 22:42, He prayed, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” Jesus did not conceal the weight of what was before Him. He expressed His desire to the Father while submitting Himself to the Father’s will. His prayer demonstrates that surrender does not require you to pretend you have no feelings, concerns, or desires. Rather, surrender requires you to place those desires beneath the authority of God. You can tell God what you want while remaining willing to accept His direction. You can pray specifically while acknowledging that His wisdom is greater than your perspective. You can experience disappointment without allowing disappointment to become rebellion. The maturity of surrender is revealed when your trust in God remains steady even when the answer is not the one you hoped to receive.
Your Life Is a Vapor: The Humbling Reality of Time! James 4:14 asks a question that deserves more than a passing thought: “For what is your life?” Then James answers, “It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” The word picture is simple, but its meaning is profound. James compares your earthly life to something temporary, something that appears for a little while and then disappears. Think about the mist that settles over the ground in the early morning. You may see it hovering over the grass, resting among the trees, or stretching across a field. It can appear substantial enough to obscure what lies beyond it, yet as the temperature and conditions change, the mist begins to lift. Before long, the landscape is clear, and what was visible moments earlier has vanished.
You cannot hold that mist in your hands. You cannot command it to remain. You cannot determine the precise moment it will disappear. James uses this image to confront the illusion that you possess unlimited time. Perhaps you have experienced a day when an unexpected phone call changed everything. You began the morning with an ordinary schedule, expecting to complete familiar responsibilities, only to discover that circumstances had changed in ways you never anticipated. Suddenly, the things that seemed urgent only moments earlier became less important. Your priorities shifted, and you were reminded that life can change without consulting your calendar.
Experiences like these often reveal how much of life you take for granted. You may assume there will always be another opportunity to make the phone call, express appreciation, reconcile a relationship, spend time with someone you love, or respond to something God has placed upon your heart. You tell yourself that you will do it when things slow down, when the timing improves, or when you have fewer responsibilities. But James reminds you that tomorrow has not been guaranteed.
This truth is not intended to make you live in fear of death or uncertainty. It is intended to teach you how to value the life you have been given. Psalm 90:12 says, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” Numbering your days is not simply counting how many days you have lived. It is recognizing that your time is limited and asking God for wisdom to live meaningfully within that limitation.
When you begin to understand the brevity of life, you may discover that some things you have been worrying about do not deserve the amount of time and energy you have given them. You may recognize that certain arguments are not worth prolonging, that some offenses need to be released, and that some relationships deserve more intentional attention. You may also begin to understand that rest, gratitude, prayer, and quiet moments with God are not interruptions to a productive life, but they are an important part of a life lived with wisdom. Your life being brief does not make it insignificant, it makes the moments within it precious.
Now consider how often you attempt to live yesterday, today, and tomorrow at the same time. Your body is present in today, but your thoughts may be occupied with something that happened yesterday. You replay a conversation, reconsider a decision, or revisit a disappointment. You wonder what you should have said, what you could have done differently, or why something happened the way it did. Although the event has passed, you continue giving it space in your present. Then, almost without noticing, your thoughts move into tomorrow. You begin imagining what might happen, preparing responses to conversations that have not occurred, and worrying about problems that may never develop. You attempt to calculate every possibility because uncertainty makes you uncomfortable.
And while your attention moves between what has already happened and what has not yet happened, the moments available to you today continue passing. This is why the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:34 are so important: “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” In the broader context of Matthew 6:25–34, Jesus is teaching His followers not to be consumed with anxiety about life’s necessities. He points to the birds of the air and the lilies of the field as reminders of the Father’s care. He is not encouraging irresponsibility or suggesting that practical preparation is unnecessary. He is teaching you that anxiety should not become the governing force of your life.
Jesus directs you to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, trusting that your heavenly Father knows your needs. Then He reminds you that each day has enough concerns of its own. You are not required to carry the emotional weight of every possible tomorrow while fulfilling today’s responsibilities. You can prepare without becoming consumed. You can remember without remaining imprisoned. You can acknowledge uncertainty without surrendering your peace to it. This is where your prayer becomes deeply personal, “Father, teach me how to live within the confines of my day, that I may flow in Your Presence in my present, and not in tomorrow nor my past, in the Name of Jesus Christ.”
Living within the confines of your day means recognizing the responsibilities, opportunities, and limitations of the day God has placed before you. It means learning to distinguish between what requires your attention now and what must be entrusted to Him. It means accepting that you cannot accomplish everything at once, resolve every uncertainty immediately, or control every circumstance. It also means recognizing that God’s Presence is not reserved for a future season when everything finally comes together. He is available to you in the ordinary moments of the day you are living right now.
You can acknowledge Him while preparing breakfast, driving to work, caring for your family, completing an assignment, sitting quietly, or making an important decision. You do not have to wait until your circumstances become extraordinary to recognize His Presence. You may be so focused on asking God what He will do next that you overlook what He is teaching you now. You may be praying for the next opportunity while failing to recognize the responsibility already in your hands. You may be asking for greater things while neglecting to give thanks for the ordinary provisions that sustain your life.
The invitation is to become attentive to God where you are, rather than continually postponing your awareness of Him until you arrive somewhere else. James 4:15 provides the correction to the attitude he has been addressing: “For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” Notice that James does not instruct you to abandon your plans. He instructs you to acknowledge the Lord’s will within them. The problem is not that you have a calendar, a vision, or a goal. The problem arises when you begin treating those things as though they are guaranteed and entirely within your control.
Consider how differently you might approach your day if you sincerely acknowledged God’s authority over it. You would still prepare for your responsibilities, but you would remain willing to adjust when necessary. You would still pursue meaningful goals, but you would not allow those goals to determine your identity or your peace. You would still pray for desired outcomes, but you would trust God’s wisdom when circumstances unfolded differently.
Saying “If the Lord wills” must become more than a religious expression added to the end of your sentences. It must become a genuine posture of humility. You can say those words with your mouth while still resisting God’s direction in your heart. You can speak about surrender while remaining unwilling to release your expectations. James is calling you beyond the language of submission into the practice of submission. This is why James 4:16 confronts boasting and arrogance. The merchants were not merely making plans; they were expressing confidence in their ability to determine the future. James exposes the pride beneath that assumption.
Pride is not always loud or obvious. Sometimes it appears in your unwillingness to accept limitations. Sometimes it appears when you believe everything depends upon your ability to make things happen. Sometimes it appears when you become frustrated because you cannot control another person’s decisions, the timing of an opportunity, or the outcome of a situation. Humility allows you to recognize that you are responsible for your obedience, but you are not sovereign over the results. Romans 12:1–2 teaches you to present yourself as a living sacrifice and to be transformed through the renewing of your mind. That transformation includes the way you think about your plans, your responsibilities, and your future. As your mind is renewed by God’s Word, you learn to approach life with greater dependence upon Him. You begin to understand that surrender does not make you passive. It makes you responsive to God’s direction.
James concludes this passage with a statement that connects surrender to responsibility. In James 4:17, he writes, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” This verse reminds you that acknowledging the uncertainty of tomorrow does not excuse neglecting what you know is right today. You cannot control the future, but you remain accountable for how you respond to the responsibilities and opportunities God has entrusted to you. Perhaps there is someone you need to encourage, an apology you need to offer, a responsibility you need to address, or an act of kindness you have continually postponed. Perhaps you have been waiting for circumstances to become perfect before taking a step you already know is appropriate.
James challenges you to examine whether your delay is rooted in wisdom or avoidance. At the same time, you must remember that faithfulness does not mean attempting to complete every possible task in a single day. You are human, and your limitations are real. Some things require preparation, healing, counsel, or the cooperation of others. Living faithfully today means responding wisely to what is genuinely within your responsibility, not placing an impossible burden upon yourself. The truth is that you do not have to control tomorrow to be faithful today.
You can love the people around you today. You can speak with kindness today. You can fulfill your responsibilities today. You can pray today. You can practice forgiveness today. You can give thanks today. You can respond to God’s Word today. And when the day ends, you can entrust what remains unfinished to the Lord, knowing that your value is not measured by how much you managed to accomplish. As you reflect on this first devotional, consider what your life might look like if you truly allowed what you know about God to govern how you approach what you do not know about tomorrow. Perhaps you would worry less and pray more. Perhaps you would hold your expectations more loosely and your faith more firmly. Perhaps you would become more attentive to the people and moments you have been overlooking.
Most importantly, perhaps you would begin to recognize that spiritual maturity is not demonstrated by your ability to predict what comes next, but by your willingness to remain faithful to God in the present. You have learned to declare, “For I know that my Redeemer lives.” Now you are being challenged to demonstrate that confidence through the words, “If it is the Lord’s will, I shall live and do this or that.” You can be confident in God’s character without being certain of His calendar. You can trust His faithfulness without knowing every detail of His plan. And you can surrender tomorrow without neglecting the responsibilities of today. As you move forward, allow this truth to settle within your heart, what you know about God should give you the confidence to surrender what you do not know to God.
As you prepare to pray, examine the way you have been approaching your plans and expectations. Consider whether you have truly invited God to direct your steps or whether you have simply asked Him to approve decisions you have already made. Think about the areas of your life where uncertainty has produced anxiety, where disappointment has produced resistance, or where your desire for control has made surrender difficult. Ask yourself whether you are fully present in the day God has given you or whether your attention has been divided between yesterday’s experiences and tomorrow’s possibilities. Most importantly, consider this question, If you genuinely believe that God is faithful, sovereign, and wise, what are you still afraid to place in His hands?
Let’s Pray:
Father, in the mighty and matchless Name of Jesus Christ, I come before You with a grateful heart, acknowledging that You are God and that there is none like You. You are eternal, sovereign, faithful, merciful, and wise. You know the beginning from the end, and nothing concerning my life is hidden from Your sight. Thank You for allowing me to awaken to another day, for the breath in my body, for the strength You have provided, and for the opportunity to come before Your throne of Grace. Father, as I reflect upon Your Word in James 4:13–17, I recognize how easily I can become consumed with my plans, responsibilities, and expectations. I acknowledge that there have been times when I have spoken about tomorrow as though it belonged to me. I have made decisions, established timelines, and imagined outcomes without always stopping to seek Your wisdom or submit my desires to Your authority. Forgive me for the pride that sometimes hides beneath my planning and for the self-sufficiency that causes me to depend more upon my understanding than upon Your direction. Lord, I have declared that I know You. I know that You are faithful, that You are my Redeemer, and that You have sustained me through circumstances I could not have overcome in my own strength. Yet I confess that there are moments when I still struggle to surrender the things I cannot control. I believe in Your power, but sometimes I become impatient with Your timing. I trust Your wisdom, but sometimes I resist when Your direction differs from my desires. Father, continue the work of transformation within me so that my confidence in Your character produces genuine submission to Your will. Teach me to crucify the desires of my flesh that compete with Your leading. Where pride has taken root, cultivate humility. Where impatience has influenced my decisions, develop endurance. Where fear has caused me to grasp for control, strengthen my faith. Where disappointment has hardened my heart, restore tenderness and trust. Help me recognize that surrender is not merely something I declare during prayer but a posture I must practice in my everyday life. Father, Your Word reminds me that my life is like a vapor, appearing for a little while and then vanishing away. Teach me to number my days and apply my heart unto wisdom. Help me recognize the preciousness of every moment You have entrusted to me. Forgive me for the times I have taken ordinary blessings for granted, overlooked opportunities to express love, postponed necessary acts of kindness, or allowed unnecessary concerns to consume my attention. Lord, teach me how to live within the confines of my day, that I may flow in Your Presence in my present, and not in tomorrow nor my past, in the mighty Name of Jesus Christ. When my thoughts begin to travel backward into yesterday’s disappointments, remind me of Your mercy and the lessons You have allowed me to learn. When my mind begins to race ahead into tomorrow’s uncertainties, remind me that You are already aware of every circumstance I will face. Help me remain grounded in the truth of Your Word and attentive to the responsibilities and opportunities before me today. Father, I bring before You the things I have been trying to control. I surrender the plans that have become greater than my peace, the expectations that have become difficult to release, and the outcomes I have been attempting to determine through my own strength. I surrender my family, my relationships, my work, my ministry, my finances, my responsibilities, and the concerns I have carried silently within my heart. Give me wisdom to make responsible decisions while remaining willing to follow Your direction. Teach me the difference between preparation and presumption, between faithful responsibility and unnecessary worry, and between remembering yesterday and remaining captive to it. Help me recognize when I need to act, when I need to wait, when I need to seek wise counsel, and when I need to release something that does not belong within my control. May I never confuse surrender with inactivity, nor mistake constant activity for obedience. Father, give me today’s bread for today’s needs. Give me today’s wisdom for today’s decisions, today’s strength for today’s responsibilities, today’s patience for today’s challenges, and today’s grace for today’s journey. When unexpected circumstances interrupt my schedule, Father, help me respond with wisdom rather than frustration. When doors do not open according to my expectations, help me remain faithful rather than bitter. When answers are delayed, strengthen my trust rather than allowing fear to govern my thoughts. Lord, make me more aware of Your Presence in the ordinary moments of my life. Help me recognize You while I am working, serving, caring for others, resting, making decisions, and fulfilling the assignments You have entrusted to me. Do not allow me to become so consumed with seeking the next opportunity that I overlook the blessings and responsibilities already before me. Teach me to appreciate the people You have placed in my life and to demonstrate love, compassion, patience, and kindness while I have the opportunity. And Father, where I know to do good, give me the willingness to respond. Where reconciliation is appropriate and possible, guide me in wisdom and humility. Where forgiveness is needed, work within my heart. Where responsibilities have been neglected, give me the discipline to address them. Where I have been postponing what You have clearly instructed me to do, help me move forward in faithful obedience. Above all, Father, teach me to trust You with the things I cannot see. I may not know what tomorrow will bring, but I know that You are faithful. I may not understand every change in my circumstances, but I know that Your wisdom exceeds mine. I may not have every answer, but I know that I can come before You in prayer and receive grace to help me in my time of need. As I continue this devotional journey, let the words “If it is the Lord’s will” become more than a familiar expression. Let them become the sincere declaration of a heart that is fully surrendered to You. May my plans remain submitted, my faith remain steadfast, and my life reflect the humility of one who recognizes that every day is a gift from Your hand. And until tomorrow becomes today, Father, keep me present with You. Help me live wisely, love intentionally, serve faithfully, and rest securely in Your care. I surrender my will to Your will, my timing to Your timing, and my expectations to Your wisdom, trusting that You are worthy of my complete dependence. In the mighty and matchless Name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen and Amen!
Nugget ~ “For I Know” establishes your confidence in God; “If the Lord Wills” reveals your willingness to surrender to Him. Do not allow yesterday to rob you of today’s Presence or tomorrow to borrow today’s grace. What you know about God should give you the confidence to trust Him with what you do not know.
Blessings…
Love, Dr. Jean…
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