Tomorrow? Are you sure?

“Boast not thyself of tomorrow;
for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Prov 27:1).

If I were to ask you, “What are you doing tomorrow?” you would probably be quick to tell me about school, maybe games, maybe a family activity, or something else that you’re planning on doing. And I’m pretty sure you would say, “Tomorrow I will do. . . .”
We ought not boast about tomorrow, because we are simply not in control of tomorrow’s events! If we think for just a few minutes about all the things that could go wrong (or right!) between now and tomorrow, we have to say there is simply no way for us to say for sure that we know what will happen in 24 hours. The reality (that we would surely all admit) is we don’t know if we will even be alive tomorrow, much less in any shape to do those things! We sometimes fall unwittingly into a self-centered pride that thinks we will be able to do what we want, how we want, and whenever we want to do it. Think about it: when we say, “This is what I will do,” we are setting ourselves above God. Instead of this kind of pride, we ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that” (Jas 4:15). This reminds us that God is in charge of every aspect of our lives—not us. When we are continually acknowledging that God is sovereign, we are also admitting that we are his subjects.
When you were little, everything you did had to be checked by your parents. Can I go upstairs and play? Can I go outside and play? Can I wear this or that? We were not in control of life! Now, just a few years later, we think that because we can pick out our friends and choose our the color of our notebook we are in control of life. This is pride, plain and simple. Humble yourself before God and acknowledge his sovereign control of all things.