Part 12 “Knowing and Doing the Will of God”
James 4:13-17
Intro – welcome back to our series in the book of James… …please open your Bibles to the last part of chapter 4:13-17…
-want to thank Ralph Korner for stepping in to preach last Sunday on such short notice…Audrey’s dad’s funeral went well…thanks for all your love and kindness…your prayers…
-over the years as a pastor, people come to see me for many reasons, but the top two reasons they come to see me for help and advice and prayer are:
1. relationship issues…conflict, problem…looking for one…eg young adults seeking spouse…
2. determining the will of God…finding God’s direction in making an important decision…
There is no doubt that a number of you here today are currently wondering about God’s will in your life…you have a decision to make, whether big or small, and you want to do what God wants you to do…God wants to help you with that today…
It is this very matter of knowing and doing the will of God that is the theme of today’s passage in James.
…and it is my hope that something you hear from God today will give you guidance, help, insight, principles by which you can discover God’s will in whatever area you seeking it…
Prayer…read…
Understanding the Passage
Now the problem that James is addressing appears to be a group of people who were making confident plans in what they could accomplish without considering God’s will and His Lordship over our lives…
James calls it “boasting in your arrogant schemes” and describes it as evil.
And the reason he is being so hard on this kind of proud, independent plan-making is because it is equal to living our life as if we were god…as if we were our only and final authority…where we think we can determine our own future and arrange the pieces on the chess board so things turn out in our favor…
As a matter of fact, from v.13 we can learn some principles for “God-less” plan-making…living in this proud, boastful way, whether its business plans or personal plans…
1. choose your own time and schedule
“today or tomorrow”
2. choose your own location
“to this or that city”
3. choose your own length of stay
“spend a year there”
4. choose your own activities
“carry on business”
5. choose your own results
“make money”
This is how to make plans that do not include God…the kind of plan-making James calls evil…
Now there is nothing wrong with carrying on business and making money…that is not what James is against…there is nothing wrong with making plans in business or in our personal life…
-what he is against is leaving God out of our plan-making…plan-making with independent, isolated, proud and selfish motives…
…deciding what we will do with our life as if we were in charge and in control and there is no higher authority to answer to…
-he is against plan-making in which we are consumed by material things…by selfishness and greed…in which we see only the rewards of this life and are blind to eternal, spiritual values…in which we live only for this life and not think about the life to come…
God-less plans are evil because we fail to consider:
1. the brevity of life v.14
-we are temporary at best folks…we are on this earth for a relatively short time…
-I’ve buried a still-born baby…a six year old girl…a teenager…a young adult…many older adults…and last week I buried my father-in-law who was 85…
-whether a few years or many, every human life is short according to God…every life is brief…like a morning mist or a vapor that the sun burns off…
Ps. 39:4-6
“Show me, Lord, my life’s end
and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
(approx 3 ½ in at the base of the 4 fingers) the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath,
even those who seem secure. “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be.
Now I’m not trying to be depressing here…I’m trying to give you the biblical perspective that James is presenting…that it’s OK, for example to go to Winnipeg and do business…it’s OK to go to the U of A this fall…(Taylor better!)…BUT, do so with a biblical view of life and God…go with the biblical mindset that “you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes…”
In other words you have no durability on this earth, your time is short, and one day life will go on without you…so don’t get all caught up in your business and student life or whatever it is on earth you do…
-do those things knowing that those things are not the goal, eternity is the goal…being with Jesus forever in heaven is the goal…and let that value affect the way you do everything here on earth…invest in heaven and not in this world…
…do those things with God occupying a central place in life…
eg Walter Hajen was a great example of this biblical perspective on life…
Those have been around our church for awhile will remember Walter Hajen, (Rosemary)…Ingrid Zazulak’s dad…he went home to be with Jesus over 10 years ago…
-he had a phrase which has impacted me greatly…Audrey and I say it to each other quite regularly: “I’m not that important”.
Walter and Rosemary were from Mexico, where Walter had a job as a mechanical engineer for Volkswagen…now that may not impress you, but that was a very esteemed and important position in Mexico…very prestigious to have this job…
In response to God’s leading, Walter and Rosemary decided to move their young family of four children to Canada in order to give the children the opportunities Canada afforded.
But in doing so, Walter left his important role as a mechanical engineer and came here having to start all over again almost from scratch…doing very menial jobs at first just to put food on the table. He couldn’t find work in his field because of Canadian requirements, even tho he was highly qualified.
But God was faithful and provided for the family and things turned out very well for the whole Hajen family.
But what impacted me was not only his willingness to sacrifice his personal ambition, his home country, his extended family and a familiar life in the country of his birth…
…what really struck me was the explanation for all this he gave to his son Carlos one time.
He said, “I’m not that important…” …didn’t live for himself…but for God and his family…
God-less plans are evil because we fail to consider:
2. the sovereign plans of God for our life v.15
-there are six words in v.15 that make a world of difference in how we live our brief lives on this planet: “if it is the Lord’s will…”
-God does have a will and a plan for our lives…which we can know and follow…
Jer. 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
-these 6 words “if it is the Lord’s will” represent our belief in that truth and our submission to it…just like Jesus said in the Gethsemane “not my will but Yours be done…”
-now these 6 words are not some magic formula that we should say at the end of every sentence: ‘see you Saturday, if it is the Lord’s will…” good thing to say, but if we say those words mechanically or superstitiously, then we’re missing the point…
-those six words represent a deep belief in a sovereign, good God who has a good and significant plan for our lives that we can come to know and choose to follow…and they represent a deep desire to submit to that sovereign God and do whatever it is He tells us…
______________________
So, the question we are all asking this morning is: How can I know and do the will of God? What is God’s will for my life?
Conditions for Discovering God’s Will
-note: conditions, not quick and easy 5 steps…
1. drawing near to God 4:8
** we want the plan; God wants a relationship
…so live close to God and be His friend…
Jn 15:15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
-God will reveal the plan to those who are close to Him…not the whole plan, just enough for the next few steps…
What we do for God is not as important to Him as how we do it…
even more basic, What we do is not as important as who we are…
David Platt: “His ultimate concern is not to get you or me from point A to point B along the quickest, easiest, smoothest, clearest route possible. Instead, his ultimate concern is that you and I would know him deeply as we trust him more completely.
The goal of the disciple of Jesus, then, is not to answer the question ‘What is God’s will for my life?’ The goal, instead, is to walk in God’s will on a moment-by-moment, day-by-day basis”
The point is to walk with Jesus, to draw near to Jesus. And if we walk with him, if our lives are swallowed up into his own, we’ll go the right way”.
-draw near, posture of nearness, listening, loving, learning…”God doesn’t shout His will to those far away; He whispers it to those who are near”.
2. humble submission v. 15 “if it is the Lord’s will”
-instead of resistance, push-back…willing surrender…
-beware of wanting God to rubber stamp your will and plans instead of really being open to what He wants, even if it’s not what you want…
* we can humbly submit to God’s will when we trust Him…that His plans are good, loving, wise, the best…
3. habitual obedience v.17
-start by doing the good you know you ought to do…
-practice holy living…
-obedience means we’re guidable…
Further Principles for Discovering God’s Will
-I’d like to close by giving you a few more biblical principles for discovering God’s will…important that we don’t complicate this, so let me just give you three:
a. immerse yourself in God’s word - Ps 119:105 “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”
b. seek the counsel of godly people – Pr. 15:22
“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”
-with an open mind, not one made up already…
-not just those who you know will agree with you…
-if married, you and your spouse must agree about a major decision…without being coerced…if God is in it He can speak to your spouse without you trying to force the matter…
c. pray…Acts 13:1-3…and listen for God saying…
“I am with you”…
Don’t put too much emphasis on:
- signs, circumstances…they aren’t reliable…
- inner peace…it’s one thing, but some people make it THE thing…expect some doubt and uncertainty (that’s why we need faith)
-don’t worry about needing to make a course correction…making a mistake…(perfect will vs. permissive?) Christian perfectionism is debilitating…God is gracious with us even when we get it wrong…He is far more gracious with us in our stumbling walk than we are with ourselves…
-God can even turn our mistakes into great opportunities for growth…
- better to ask God to open or close a door…God has a way of opening and closing doors of opportunity…
Prayer for those seeking God’s will…
-for those of you who are seeking God’s will right now…you need prayer…