Some time ago, a group of travelling salesmen were planning their next trip. They had in mind making a start that very day, or possibly the next, and heading off to a city where they knew they could conduct their business. It was going to be a long trip - they reckoned they might be there for a year. But they were confident it would be worthwhile because, even before setting off, they were counting in their minds the money they would make. There was just one problem though, and it was a big one... It wasn't with their business, because they were legitimate traders; it wasn't with their plans, timings or with their choice of destination because they were experienced and knew what they were doing. Their problem lay in what they had forgotten. They assumed that what they wanted to do they would do, that what they planned would happen, and that their hopes for the trip would be fulfilled by a solid financial return. They  had forgotten something rather significant and blindingly obvious. They forgot that they could not know what will happen tomorrow, let alone in a year's time. "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day might bring" (Proverbs 27:1)! They also forgot that their lives were genuinely fragile, even though they thought they were fit and strong enough and ready for the trip. Whereas, in fact, a human life is like a mist which rises in the cool of a clear summer morning but quickly vanishes, burned off by the heat of the sun, as the day advances. Sadly, they had become proud and boastful, self-confident and pre-occupied with business and money. You see, in all their plans and discussions, they did not think about God. They forgot that the Lord God holds all things in His hands, including the lives, times and circumstances of every human being. Had they remembered this rather important fact, they might have gone about their planning differently. "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps" (Proverbs 16:9). They might have said, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that". Well, these folk received a reminder in the post that they had been taught to think differently and, if they would only remember, they actually knew better. They did know that it is right and good to trust in the Lord and to commit our lives, times, plans and ways to Him.  

This little story can be found in the New Testament letter of James, chapter 4 verses 13-17. We aren't told what happened in the end, whether they made the trip, whether it was successful or not, or whether the next time they remembered the rebuke they received from James and went about things differently. The point of the story is to remind us not to forget God and so that we might go about things differently. We live in an age where few give thought to God and most make assumptions about life and the future without any regard to God, forgetting that we don't know what a day may bring and that our lives are like mist. How many plans and hopes have been completely derailed and, tragically, lives shattered almost overnight by the Covid-19 pandemic? We forget God at our peril and would do well to heed words like these, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6).