Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit'; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.' - James 4:13-15.

Just prior to the morning service yesterday, I was reminded again of the providence of God. We had made our plans. It seemed as the date had been set, that this would be the only time. So our choir had been practicing, and the preparations had been made for the Christmas Cantata to be performed. I had also been preparing. I had prepared for a short devotional message after the program, which was along the same theme. Our plans and preparations had been made, but God had other plans.

About 30 minutes prior to the start of the morning worship service, I was informed that our worship leader was ill. Greg was so ill that he had to leave, which I think was a first for him, and us. Our assistant worship leader had called earlier and was also ill, and would not be able to come to the church. The decision was immediately made to return to the normal order of service. A man who had rarely led our choir would direct it. I had been planning to preach a sermon for the Sunday after Christmas, which was suddenly the only choice for this day. All went well with our service, except for a few minor glitches. We all knew that God was at work, and there were those present who needed to hear the message that was presented.

Sometimes even our best plans and preparations may be overruled by God. We must be alert to what He wants to accomplish. The Bible makes it clear that we are only here on this earth for a short time. We have only one opportunity to see God's will be done in our lives. Even though the world calls, the world beckons, the world allures, we must stay the course. The course is God's plan, God's will, God's call upon our lives.