Write the Plan with Humility
Written for Bible Journey Plan. Our editorial standards.
Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
James 4:13-15 KJV
Couples need plans. Work, housing, care for relatives, and future responsibilities all benefit from thoughtful preparation. Trouble begins when a plan becomes a demand that life must obey.
James reminds us that our lives depend upon the Lord. We can consider the future seriously while admitting that we do not control its length or details. Humility belongs in the plan itself, not only in the explanation after it changes.
Discuss your hopes and the assumptions beneath them. Leave room for new information, wise counsel, and responsibilities you did not expect. Avoid treating a changed circumstance as proof that your spouse has ruined the whole future.
Dependence upon God should make us more responsible with today's duties, not careless about them. Prepare, save, learn, and communicate while holding the outcome before Him. A marriage can be steady even when the route changes. The Lord remains faithful beyond the limits of the calendar. Write the plan carefully, and keep enough humility to revise it without losing kindness toward the person whose life is changing alongside your own.
Keep the passage in context
James rebukes presumptuous planning that ignores dependence upon the Lord. He does not forbid responsible plans; he corrects the confidence that treats tomorrow as human property.
Read further: James 4 in the King James Bible.