“What do you want to be when you grow up?
November 25, 2022
When you were little, how many times were you asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” How many times have you asked a young person that same question? Probably more times than you can count, but one thing for sure is many of us had thoughts that were focused on the future from a very young age.
My great niece Heather is a perfect example of this. She just turned six last week and there is no doubt in her mind that she wants to be an astronaut when she grows up. So, my niece Danielle, who is Heather’s mom and a gifted artist, planned an elaborate out of this world, space themed birthday party for Heather!
Time will tell if Heather will become an astronaut, or if the thought of it will pass by her seventh birthday. However, thinking about the future is very common and it can be both fascinating and maddening at the same time. It is fascinating to focus on all the possibilities the future may hold and to dream about it. Yet it can also be maddening as the future is filled with much uncertainty.
Both James and Solomon addressed the challenge of planning for the future. James mentions in James 4:13-17 –
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17
On first blush, verse 13 sounds like a good business plan. There is a plan to trade and make a profit in a specific town during a period of time. However, James criticizes this plan as boastfully arrogant because no one knows what tomorrow will bring. Also, James is concerned about this plan because the most important ingredient has been left out – God! No mention is made of what God wills. No mention is made of reliance on God, or of asking God what He thinks of the plan.
Solomon shares the same perspective as James. In Proverbs 16:3, 9 we read –
3 Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.
9The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
Neither Solomon nor James are against planning, but they are against planning without God. We have the freedom to chart a course forward, but only in submitting those plans to God’s leading will we ensure lasting significance.
Following God may require we set aside our own agendas in favor of following His agenda for our lives. However, when we walk the path God reveals, it is always better than what we would have planned without Him!
So Heather, if God wills, you may find yourself eating birthday cake in space someday!