“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.” Proverbs 27:1

Understanding that God knows what is yet to come is at the same time confidence-inducing and humbling. On the one hand, we are confident that the Lord can handle anything that comes our way, for nothing that occurs can ever surprise Him. At the same time, God’s knowledge of the future should humble us. It should remind us that we do not know enough to declare with certainty what the outcome of our plans will be. We dare not boast about future success, for we do not know whether we will find it.

Proverbs 27:1 makes this essential point as it exhorts us not to boast about tomorrow. This exhortation goes against many of the actions and attitudes of human beings. Political campaigns are waged based on promises of what the future will turn out to be if a particular candidate gets elected. Doomsday scenarios related to pollution, the ascendancy of foreign powers, or other troubles are presented as unavoidable realities. Even in the Christian church, where people should know better, there is a tendency to think that we know more than we do about what lies ahead. End-time scenarios that prescribe a particular order of last-days events fill books, websites, and so forth.

As believers, we are to temper our confidence that we know what lies ahead, remembering that only God knows the future. It is good and right to plan for the days ahead, but if our plans succeed, it is not because of our wisdom or because we were certain that they would. Our plans succeed only if that success is ordained by our heavenly Father.

Coram Deo(live in the presence of God.worthy)

Many times, we make plans for the future and experience an inordinate degree of sadness when they do not turn out. Disappointment when things do not turn out our way may not be completely avoidable in this life, but understanding that only God knows the future and holds it in His hands can help us put things in proper perspective when things do not work out as we had hoped. We are not to put our hope in the future but in the One who holds the future in His hands.

“Has it ever occurred to you that nothing occurs to God?”

— Adriarn Rogers

DAILY DEVOTION