What were you doing 25 years ago today—on September 10, 2001? Where were you? What were you thinking? Feeling? Doing?
Chances are you can’t remember. I know I can’t.
However, one day later, on 9/11, we all remember the answers to those questions.
As I prepared some remembrance thoughts for tomorrow’s blog post, it struck me that one day earlier, no one had any idea how much our lives would change in just 24 hours.
That thought reminded me of James’ warning about the folly of making plans while leaving God out of the picture. One line echoed in my mind: “You do not know what will happen tomorrow” (Jas. 4:14).
Other versions render this phrase:
- “You do not know what tomorrow will bring” (ESV).
- “You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow” (NASU).
- “You are not certain what will take place tomorrow” (BBE).
Considering that we don’t know what will happen in the far-distant future, let alone tomorrow, James’ exhortation and the reality of our own experiences ought to prompt three important realizations.
#1 Life is uncertain.
Just as we are smoothly sailing along, enjoying calm seas and favorable winds, a storm suddenly strikes. The seas become turbulent. The winds turn cold. Sickness. Death. Divorce. Financial collapse. Others’ decisions disrupt our lives, and changing circumstances invade our comfortable world.
As the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus is credited with saying, “The only constant in life is change.”
Thus, the admonition of the wise man is appropriate: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth” (Prov. 27:1).
#2 Life is brief.
The Bible compares life to a shadow that flees. A flower that fades. A cloud that disappears. A tale that is told. And a vapor that vanishes.
Here today; gone tomorrow. It’s more than a cliché. Babies die in infancy. Young people suffer tragic accidents. Middle-aged men and women suddenly die of heart attacks. And the aged know their remaining days are few.
You don’t know the future because you don’t know how long you have to live.
#3 Life is fragile.
Human beings are feeble. Frail. Fragile. We like to think we’re tough. Strong. Invincible. Ahh, not so much. Not really. We are limited. Finite. Mortal.
The Psalmist realized this when he wrote, “Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am” (Ps. 39:4).
Uncertainty ought not to make us afraid, but to prompt us to approach each day with faith—trusting in God and following the counsel of His Word. Our faith provides assurance in the face of uncertainty. It sheds light through the darkness and offers hope, no matter what a day may bring.
James is not advising us to abandon prudent planning—preparing for a career, saving for a worthy goal, investing for retirement, or scheduling future preaching appointments. None of these is wrong.
The real point of James’ exhortation is this: Don’t leave God out of the picture! He can provide stability amid uncertainty. He can offer eternity in place of the temporary. And He can give you an immortal body to replace this mortal one.
Tomorrow, Americans will mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11. The victims’ names will be read at the 9/11 Memorial in New York City. Ceremonies will also be held at the Pentagon and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania.
Those activities are planned. We expect them to occur. But we don’t know.
Furthermore, we don’t know if we will be alive to observe them. We don’t know what unexpected events may unfold or what unforeseen circumstances may drastically alter our lives.
So, we approach tomorrow, not with fear and worry, but with the caveat, “If the Lord wills.”
And we live today knowing it is the only day we have. To serve God. To love. To give. To share. To make a difference. To obey the Lord.
In the words attributed to Thomas Carlyle, our great business is not to worry about “what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.”
—Ken Weliever, The Preacherman
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