I was probably seven or eight. I was singing with a children’s choir that met on Sunday evenings. The church’s adult choir met after the kids were done rehearsing. They needed some of the kids to turn pages for the instrumentalists accompanying the grown-up choir. I assured the choir directors that I had my parents’ permission and took my place beside the guitarist, ready to turn pages for him. That’s when my dad showed up. My dad would eventually become a beloved member of this adult choir, but on that night, they only knew him as Joy’s dad. I was there without his permission and he was not a happy man.

You see, turning pages and staying out past bedtime, that was my plan. My father’s plan was not the same. Twenty-some years later, I remember that night pretty clearly: his disappointment, my shame, the realization that I could not do what I wanted without consulting my parents.


Years spent in church and in Bible studies have taught us that we can’t be spiritual eight-year-olds. We cannot make our plans and then inform God. “Lord, I am going to be a missionary”, or “Lord, I am going to be a successful writer.” We get this, so James must be talking to other Christians in chapter 4, verses 13 through 17.

Not so fast.

James has been talking about humility, and these verses continue the discourse. Here, James is confronting the attitude his readers had about time. His readers owned their time. They were deciding where and how to spend it. They chose what important tasks would “make the cut” and which things they were simply too busy to do. Sound familiar yet? When we fill our days from 5:30 AM to 9:30 PM, we are being arrogant. When we squeeze in one more commitment, we make ourselves more important than we are. We believe the committee meeting can’t go on without us. The wedding shower won’t be as much fun if we don’t plan it. No one will tutor this child if we don’t. “Who do you think you are?” James interrupts, “You are a mist.”


The Bible frequently points out that man’s life is nothing without God (see Psalm 90). Instead of treating our days like they are ours to fill and spend, James tells us to humbly submit our time to God. Without Him holding us up, we blow away. He is our support and our substance. He gives us our days. It is pretty common in Christian circles to hear each day spoken of as a gift. “Thank you, Lord, for this day…” But I have to wonder if I would wake up with a groan if I really believed the day was a gift. Would I stand in the shower reciting my to-do list?

James wanted his readers to recognize God’s provision of their days, so that they would move from self-sufficiency to God-dependency. It is not enough for us to recognize our dependence on God’s will. James would also have his readers actively doing God’s will. This is the thrust of verse 17. You know you need God, you know what He wants, now go do it.


1. Can you think of a me where your “to do” list, and “the good you ought to do”
clearlydidn’tline up? Which one won the battle for your time?

2. How can you leave your heart open to God’s will for your life in regards to your time?

3. How does the reality that you are a mist change your way of thinking about your “to do” list?