When I was expecting my second child, I had a scheduled delivery all planned out. We chose the birth date, the time of delivery, and we had coordinated the delivery around my school schedule. I would finish final exams one week. Then a week later I would have a baby. Then, I would have all summer to be home with my little guy. My type A personality was very happy with this plan.
But it didn't really work that way. I went into preterm labor a week before finals. I was on medication to stop my labor all through my exam period. And those pills messed me up--I had hot flashes, heart palpitations, shakiness, and I was really revved up. I just knew that my water would break at school, and I groaned every time I thought about the possibility. I was at the point where whatever happened would happen and I couldn't do anything about it, except go with it.
Aren't we all really at that point? James reminds us that we can't really plan ahead for anything. All we can do is live each day doing what God wants us to do that day. Just as I knew that God would work out school and labor and baby issues, God will work out life too. His Word is a "lamp unto our feet" taking us each step of the way. We just have to trust Him. We have to stop trying to direct our own lives, because life is not a scheduled delivery--it's more like spontaneous labor.
Oh, and spontaneous labor did happen for me. My water ended up breaking a few days before my scheduled delivery, and 4 days after my last exam. God gave me a happy, healthy boy and he also gave me the best semester grades of my entire law school career. I just had to stop planning and trust that God would work it out.
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