“Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'” (James 4:15, ESV)
So what do you do with a plan you cannot guarantee? Throw it out? No. James does not say stop planning. He says change how you hold the plan.
If the Lord wills. Four words. And watch where James puts them. Not just if the Lord wills, we will do this or that. If the Lord wills, we will live, and then do this or that. Even your next breath is under the if.
This is not a magic phrase you tack onto the end of a sentence. You can say it a hundred times and still grip the plan with white knuckles. It is not about your words. It is about your hands.
Paul lived it. Read his letters and the man is always making plans, and always adding the same thing. I will come to you, if the Lord wills. Full calendar, open hand. Those two are not enemies. You can chase a good plan with everything you have and still leave the final say with God.
Today: Take one plan you have been gripping. Hold it up and say it and mean it. God, this is yours before it is mine.