Walking with the Wise #498: Your Breath is in His Hand

“Do not boast about tomorrow,


for you do not know what a day may bring.”
—Proverbs 27:1

Your very breath is in the hand of God. There is nothing about you that He doesn’t know, for He made you. He is the one who formed you in the womb, gave you life, breath, and the ability to know, understand and do certain things. You didn’t make yourself. You didn’t cause yourself to be born, you didn’t give yourself the ability to think, feel, do, make, know, work, love, and accomplish certain things (Deuteronomy 8:18). In fact, the Bible says that all of our days are numbered (Psalm 90:12). We live and we die. We don’t know how long our life will last, we simply know that God made us for a purpose—and that is to give Him glory (Isaiah 43:7). We are stewards, given this great life as a gift from God—what we do with it, that’s our gift back to Him.

We are solely accountable to Him for everything we say, think, and do. And for what we do with what He has given to us, we will one day have to give an account (Romans 14:12). Knowing this, we live in humility, aware that God is God and we are not. As James said,

“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’—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. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil”—James 4:13-16.

Do not boast about what you are going to do. Live in the knowledge that you are a steward of all God has given you. Notwithstanding, do not let that knowledge weigh you down—instead, let it act as a ballast to your soul, giving you stability and direction so that you might joyously reflect back to God what He means to you. God has given you life. Treasure it, savor it, and then use it to show the world who He is—for His glory and your joy. Amen.