15 November 2026
WALKING IN HIS WILL UNDER HIS LORDSHIP
(Walking In God’s Will : WIGW 8)
The Apostle James gave a gentle rebuke to his readers regarding the way they talked. He wrote,
“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.” (Jas 4:13-15).
James is saying that our conversation should always be prefaced by
“If the Lord wills”. This is walking in humility and recognizing that our life is not in our control and that we belong to God and therefore we must submit to His authority, because He is the Sovereign Lord of all.
Pride in us say,
“I will do this and that”, or
“I want to go here and there”. It also reveals self-will at work in our life. Hence James continues,
“As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil” (4:16). Jesus tells us that
“It is out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matt 12:34). That means what we say is really what is already in our heart. If His Lordship is in our heart, we will always say,
“If it is the Lord’s will, I will do this or that, buy this or that…” However, if self is in control, then pride takes control of the tongue.
Now the question is, why shouldn’t we talk like that? James gives the answer,
“For what is your life? It is like the mist that that appears for a while and disappears”. Life is fragile and life is short. So don’t be so cocksure that we will have our own way and live any way we like. We are not in control of our life. Jesus tells the Parable of the Rich Fool who said,
“This is what I will do…and I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry”. But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” (Luke 12:18-20). This man was called a fool by God because he thought he was his own boss and could live and decide whatever he wanted, thus leaving God out of the picture.
This Parable is a sober warning to all of us, just as James’ advice is thought provoking. Let us not take too much for granted and think we are the captain of our own soul. Paul reminds us that
“You are not your own. You have been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor 6:20). Jesus ends His Parable with a moral:
“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich towards God” (Luke 12:.21). Being rich towards ourselves means doing everything for our own selfish benefit with God’s entrusted blessings but not doing anything for Him or His Kingdom. Thus, the spoken language,
“I want to do this, I want to go there, I want to buy that”, etc. Instead, we should be asking God’s permission for whatever we want to do by asking,
“Lord, is this your will?”. After all, our life and what we have don’t belong to us; they are God’s.
James ends his advice with these words:
“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins” (4:17).
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