“What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’ Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.” (James 4:15–16 NLT)

James is talking to successful Christian business leaders. These are people who worked hard to reach the top of their field. You’ll notice that he doesn’t rebuke them for their success or their efforts to be the best.

No matter what you do for a living, if you’re a follower of Christ, you should strive to be the best at what you do. You should work harder than anybody else. You should arrive early to your job. You should leave a little later than others do. You should work cheerfully. And you should do everything for the glory of God, wherever you are.

God hasn’t called everyone into so-called ministry. He hasn’t called everyone to be a preacher. But He has called us all to minister and to serve Him and to bring honor and glory to Him, whatever our profession is. If you’re a doctor, attend to your patients for the glory of God. If I need surgery, I don’t want a preacher. I want a godly surgeon who knows what he’s doing. I may need a Christian attorney. I may need someone else in another field—in construction, in music, in art, in politics. We need strong believers in all fields to represent us well.

But in your striving to be the best, you need to maintain your focus and priorities. That’s what James is saying. He offers you a valuable reminder. He gives you the key to maximize your success.

The people James was talking to had lost their focus. They were believers, but they were living like atheists. They weren’t factoring God into their plans. So James reminded them to keep God’s will at the forefront of their lives.

Ultimately, every plan anybody ever makes is dependent on “if the Lord wants us to.” If you humbly acknowledge that and plan accordingly, God will bless your plans. That’s why Paul told the believers in Ephesus, “I will come back later, God willing” (Acts 18:21 NLT). And it’s why he wrote to the believers in Corinth, “I will come—and soon—if the Lord lets me” (1 Corinthians 4:19 NLT).

God’s will covers a lot of ground—everything you do, in fact. If you’re going to give it the consideration it deserves, it must be one of the first things you think about in the morning and one of the last things you think about at night. It needs to be a frequent topic of conversation with your spouse or loved ones. It needs to be the main focus of every prayer, every business meeting, and every decision-making process.

No matter what field you’re in, keeping God’s will at the forefront means thinking about what you’re sacrificing, thinking about what you’re prioritizing, thinking about how you’re using your resources—including your time, finances, and people—and making sure that they align with God and His will.

You can glorify God wherever you are and in whatever you do. Just remember to factor in His will.

Reflection question: How do you factor God’s will into your workday?

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