“You who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town…’ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.” 

– James 4:13–15

Planning Isn’t the Problem. Presumption Is.

Planning itself is not a lack of faith.
God is not offended by calendars, goals, or commitments.

What Scripture confronts is presumption.

James is not rebuking productivity. He is correcting the mindset that assumes tomorrow is guaranteed and God’s approval is automatic. The issue is not that people plan. The issue is that they plan as if time belongs to them.

We schedule meetings, deadlines, trips, launches, and seasons with confidence, often without ever pausing to ask if God is leading or simply being informed.

Planning becomes dangerous when it quietly replaces submission.

We Plan Like Time Is Ours

Most people do not intentionally exclude God from their schedule.
They simply assume He agrees with it.

Days fill quickly. Commitments stack. Opportunities arise. Before long, the calendar is full, yet prayer never had a voice in the process. God becomes someone we ask to bless what we already decided instead of the One we invite to direct it.

James exposes this mindset clearly.
“You say today or tomorrow…”
“You say we will go…”
“You say we will stay…”
“You say we will profit…”

Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.

Confidence without submission is not faith.
It is control wearing spiritual language.

God Does Not Compete With the Calendar

God does not fight for space on your schedule.
He reveals priorities and waits for surrender.

When calendars become untouchable, hearts slowly harden. What began as ambition turns into pressure. What started as opportunity becomes exhaustion. People stay busy yet feel disconnected, productive yet unsettled.

This tension is often the warning sign.

When God is first, schedules align.
When He is assumed, schedules dominate.

Delayed Surrender Creates Crowded Lives

Many people intend to submit their plans to God “eventually.”

After this season.
After this deadline.
After things calm down.

But life rarely slows down on its own.

Delayed surrender produces crowded calendars and strained hearts. The weight increases because God was never meant to carry plans He was not consulted about.

God does not ask us to stop planning.
He asks us to stop planning alone.

“If the Lord Wills” Is Not a Phrase—It’s a Posture

James does not tell believers to add religious language to their plans. He calls for a posture shift.

“If the Lord wills” is not something spoken casually.
It is something lived intentionally.

It means holding plans loosely.
It means staying flexible when God redirects.
It means trusting that delays, interruptions, and closed doors may be protection rather than punishment.

Surrendered planning replaces anxiety with peace, because control is no longer the goal. Alignment is.

Why We Resist Giving God Our Time

Time feels personal.

It represents opportunity, security, momentum, and progress. Giving God control of the calendar feels risky because it threatens efficiency and predictability.

Yet God never mismanages time.

What He removes, He replaces with purpose.
What He delays, He strengthens.
What He interrupts, He redeems.

Trusting God with time is trusting Him with outcomes.

Leadership Begins With Surrendered Time

Leadership that ignores God’s timing carries unnecessary weight.

Decisions feel rushed.
Pressure stays constant.
Clarity becomes rare.

This happens because leadership is meant to flow from alignment, not urgency. When leaders submit their schedules to God, they lead from peace instead of pressure.

God does not bless speed.
He blesses obedience.

Submitting the Calendar Changes Everything

When God is invited into scheduling, priorities shift.

Some things fall away.
Some things slow down.
Some things gain new meaning.

Life becomes ordered instead of overloaded. Progress continues, but without the constant strain of control. Trust grows because time is no longer something to manage alone.

God honors calendars that reflect surrender.

This Is a Call to Pause, Not Quit

This devotional is not a call to abandon goals or stop planning.

It is a call to pause long enough to ask one honest question:

“Lord, does this reflect Your will, or just my momentum?”

When God leads the calendar, peace follows the schedule.