Boasting About Tomorrow

Faith That Works

The Epistle of James

James 4:13-17

Epistle · Wisdom Literature

DiscussionFeb 20, 2026

PublishedFeb 20, 2026

Last UpdatedJul 2, 2026

Main Points

Planning is not the problem; planning as if God is not sovereign is.
Life is a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes — no man is guaranteed tomorrow.
The posture shift James calls for is not passive fatalism but submitted dependence: "If the Lord wills."
Boasting in my plans is not ambition — James calls it evil.
Knowing the right thing to do and not doing it is sin, full stop.

"Come now" — same confrontational opener as 5:1; James is calling someone to account.

The plan described is detailed: destination, duration, activity, expected return.

Nothing in the plan is inherently wrong — but God is completely absent from it.

Planning without God doesn't fail because it's organized; it fails because it treats the future as owned.

The secular outlook that ignores God can live inside a Christian vocabulary.

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

The rich fool plans to build bigger barns and take his ease — and God requires his soul that night.

Where in my life have I already written the script for the next several years — and God is not in it?

What plans am I most emotionally attached to right now, and what does that attachment reveal?

How do I respond internally when my plans collapse unexpectedly?

Is there a difference between being driven and being presumptuous? The difference is whether God is sovereign in your plans or whether you are. Check your plans this week — not to change them necessarily, but to examine what posture they're coming from.

"You do not know what tomorrow will bring" — this is not a possibility; it is a certainty. He does not know.

Mist (atmos) — a vapor, a breath, the kind of thing that's gone before you've fully noticed it appeared.

Fog typically vanishes without anyone observing the moment of its disappearance.

The metaphor is meant to break the illusion of guaranteed time — not to produce anxiety but to produce surrender.

My days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace.

Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good.

Do I live more like life is fragile or like it's guaranteed?

If I truly believed life was a mist, what would change about how I use my time this week?

What am I spending energy on that won't matter in eternity?

What am I spending energy on that won't matter in 5 years, 10 years, eternity? Identify one thing this week. Now identify one eternal thing you're neglecting because you think there's time. Rearrange accordingly.

"If the Lord wills" is about posture, not a required verbal formula.

The Lord here is Yahweh — creator, sustainer, the one who holds every day in His hand.

Paul models this in Acts 18 — it's not passive but it is submitted.

The shift is from "I will do this" (v. 13) to "I'm going to do this, if God does it through me."

This changes the posture from sovereign to son.

Paul says "I will return to you if God wills" before leaving Ephesus — the apostolic practice of this posture.

The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

Do I find it harder to trust God with success or with suffering?

What would actual surrender look like in the most important decision I'm currently facing?

What does "if the Lord wills" look like in how I lead my home — am I making plans with Him or announcing them?

Name the biggest area where you are functionally acting independently while saying you trust God. Change the posture — not just the language. Let one decision this week be genuinely submitted before it's made.

"As it is" — James contrasts the proper posture (v. 15) with the actual behavior he's observing.

Boasting in arrogance is specifically the boasting of the man who plans as if he controls the future.

Not all boasting is condemned — Paul boasts in the Lord, in weakness, in the cross. Boasting in self-sufficiency is the problem.

The verdict "evil" is the same word used for the evil of the tongue in 3:8 — James uses it precisely.

Your boasting is not good; a little leaven leavens the whole lump.

Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom or the mighty in his might; let him who boasts boast in this — that he knows and understands the Lord.

How does pride show up differently in me at different stages of life?

Where am I tempted to measure myself against other men — their income, their success, their family?

How has personal achievement fed my self-sufficiency in ways I haven't examined?

Where has pride quietly shaped your decision-making — not obvious pride, but the subtle assumption that you have this handled, that you know what's coming, that your plan is solid? Name it. Surrender it.

"Fails to do it" — the Greek describes the good acts I know I ought to do and consistently don't.

This is the sin of omission — failing to act on known truth is as serious to God as acting against known truth.

The context connects this to the entire passage: knowing I should submit my plans to God and not doing it is sin.

Knowledge without obedience is not neutral — it increases the accountability.

The servant who knew his master's will and did not act accordingly received a severe beating.

⁴⁷And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. ⁴⁸But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

— LUKE 12:47–48

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Visit the permission site for details.

Jesus tells the Pharisees: if you were blind, you would have no guilt — but now that you say "we see," your guilt remains.

What good do I already know God is calling me to do — that I have delayed, rationalized, or avoided?

What obedience have I postponed so long that I've stopped calling it disobedience?

What conversation have I avoided, what step of leadership have I not taken, what act of service have I withheld?

If nothing changes after this study — if you walk out knowing what's right and still don't do it — what does that say? Pick one known act of obedience. Do it before this week ends.

Heat Check

Truth meets action. How does the Word shape the way I am living. Forge real change in me through obedience, accountability and daily application.

My Plans Will Expose Whether I Am a Submitted Son or a Self-Sovereign Builder

I plan as if the future is mine to control, or I hold every plan with open hands before a sovereign God.

I am driven by ambition without submission, or I combine planning with the posture "if the Lord wills."

I boast in my plans and my outcomes, or I boast only in what God has done and is doing.

I treat time as guaranteed and spend it accordingly, or I live with the sober awareness that life is a mist.

I know what's right and delay it indefinitely, or I act on what I know before another week passes.

I build kingdoms for myself, or I build toward what matters when the mist is gone.

Observation / Conviction → Heart Change → Action

Closing Thoughts

Help me refine every spark of insight and conviction into a singular, solid truth before I move.

James isn't telling me to stop planning. He's telling me to stop pretending I'm sovereign. Are my plans much different from a non-follower's plans? Does that tell me anything?

Write down one plan I need to surrender — a career move, a financial goal, a family decision. Hold it before God this week and ask Him what He wills rather than telling Him what I've decided.

Write down one act of obedience I have been delaying. Tell one person close to me what it is and set a date by which I will do it. Ask him to hold me to it.

Prayer

First step is always prayer. I can not do this on my own. LORD, my GOD…Lead the way.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for James shooting it to us straight. Thank you for these men you have placed in my life who are hungry for your word. I pray that we bend our knee to you in every aspect of our lives that we are holding off on fully submitting to your will Lord. I pray that we stop planning our lives like we any control and instead remember that you are sovereign over our lives and your will for our lives are far way more important than our own selfish wants and desires. I pray that like it is written in Philippians 4, that we learn to be content in every circumstance. That we fully surrender even our smallest wants and desires to you Lord. I pray that we don’t love our life, but instead love you and follow you so that we will keep what is important in eternal life with you, Lord. Let us serve you, to the best of our abilities over the next couple of weeks. Let us look back at JAMES 4 prior to moving into James 5 and really take a close look at our friendship with the world, and our self reliant boasting. I pray for joy to be filled within us, everlasting joy, instead of the happiness the world tries to bring. I pray for us to do the right thing even when it’s the hard thing. Strengthen our backs Lord so that we can carry the burdens of others and we carry it right to your feet and drop them. Your yoke is easy. Thank you for your sacrifice Lord to wash us clean, thank you for your mercy being new every morning. I surrender to you Lord. The struggles I face when the devil is in my ear tempting me to do things that isn’t clean and it isn’t pure. I surrender them to you. Lord, take the time back the Devil is trying to make me busy with, and let me focus my eyes on you instead. I pray for the protection of anyone reading this and ask you for your forgiveness on their behalf of our trespasses, our sins, and our transgressions against you.

In Jesus name, Amen.

The Forge 2717

Boasting About Tomorrow

Main Points

Observations

Cross References

Heart Level

Sharpening Moment

Heat Check

Closing Thoughts

Prayer

Proverbs 27:17