Lent.

Pay attention, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such-and-such a town. We will stay there a year, buying and selling, and making a profit.” You don’t really know about tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for only a short while before it vanishes. Here’s what you ought to say: “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:13-15, CEB)

This week did not go as planned.

As I write this, we are ending a week featuring more snow than the Knoxville area has had in over 30 years.

I teach college classes. We had planned to start last Tuesday. My Toastmasters Club had planned to meet Wednesday morning as usual, and have a social gathering that night. Our disabled daughter had a full nursing schedule with no gaps, a rare week.

Instead, all physical classes wound up dismissed the whole week—not the ideal start to a semester. The Wednesday morning meeting happened, but over Zoom. That social gathering that had been planned for three months? Canceled. Four nights this week, our daughter’s night nurses have not been able to get here, including tonight. In fact, I just got a phone call. Her day nurse slid off the road on the way home, and so cannot make it here tomorrow, leaving me to care for Hannah for 24, maybe 36, straight hours.

As I’ve mentioned before, our disabled daughter has taught us to make your plans, but hold them lightly, since they’re likely to change. (We have also learned that “normal” is just a setting on a dryer, but that’s another story.)

James doesn’t tell us to forgo planning altogether. After all, Scripture also says, “The plans of the diligent end up in profit, but those who hurry end up with loss” (Prov. 21:5) and “If one of you wanted to build a tower, wouldn’t you first sit down and calculate the cost, to determine whether you have enough money to complete it?” (Luke 14:28) and “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed” (Prov. 15:22).

But within that context, James advises us to recognize we don’t control much of anything. Things can change in an instant. There is one constant, as expressed by the Hebrew writer. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever!” (Heb. 13:8).

Let’s pray.

Father, thank you for the reminder that we cannot control the circumstances of our lives or the things that happen to us. We can wallow in that frustration, or we can enjoy the peace that passes understanding when we place our lives in your hands. Teach us to place you and your will first as we make our plans, and to see your hand in all that we do. Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Donn King.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.