The Chinese say, 人算不如天算. The English equivalent is, “Man proposes, God disposes.” God Word says, “The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths” (Psalm 135:6). Just a change in wind direction could make our days very miserable or very happy. We are at the mercy of the wind over which we have absolutely no control. Truly, our lives are in the hands of God: “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favour to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all,” (Eccl 9:11) as decided by God.
Dear Christian and friend, do you realise how helpless we are? God’s Word rightly counsels us in James 4:13-15,
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
To be truly blessed, you must put God not only first place in your life. Rather, God must be first in every place of your life. The critical question is not: “What shall I do now?” Rather, “What does God want me to do now?” What God wants you to do is not something mysterious, but written clearly in God’s Word, the Bible. The most important thing is to repent of your sins and receive Jesus as your Saviour and Lord. To God there are only two types of persons: those whose sins have been completely washed away and are heading for heaven, and those who are still a slave to sin and are heading for hell. Which group do you belong to? One day, and sometimes sooner than you think, you will enter eternity into either heaven or hell. Where are you going? It’s pointless to be doing well in this world (which lasts only your life time) and be in torture in the eternal world (which is forever). Be wise!
Christians, what does God want you to do? Jesus says that the essence of God’s commandments can be summed up in, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind . . . Love your neighbour as yourself” (Matt 22:37-39). He desires, first, holiness in your life: “be holy because I am holy” (Lev 11:45); be faithful in small things, in whatever you are entrusted. Then your God will give you big things to do: “You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things” (Matt 25:21). Love your fellow church members, your family members, your colleagues, and the people around you. Then, the blessings of God will come even when you do not ask for them because God is pleased to give the best to you.