One of the biggest mistakes we all make is what I’ll call blind arrogance. What I mean by that is simple. It’s false confidence. We believe that we know the future and in some ways, think we can control it. For all intents and purposes, the pandemic has brought most of us back to reality. We have found out that we control very little if anything. But a false certainty in our future persists for most of us. Let me give you a very personal example.
I live in Phoenix, Arizona, the city that is known as “the valley of the sun.” Not the greatest place to be for a person who develops skin cancer, right? Let me put it this way, my dermatologist and I are on a first-name basis. I regularly go to the doctor for a skin check-up. No big deal. However, last week I got a call back from the doctor’s office. My overconfident response to the call was, “What’s up doc?” It was met with a moment of silence, then “we have the results of your biopsy and it’s not good.” It’s amazing how things can change in a moment. You can go from the highest high to the lowest low in seconds. Lord willing, I’m going to be fine. But I’ve been reminded of an important lesson. God desires that I live my life depending on Him for my future, not with a blind arrogance that I can control my future. Do I work toward, plan for, schedule wisely, for a great future? Of course. But I was reminded this week to hold those plans with an open hand,
James is pretty clear. 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 and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 4:13-15