So if you ever had to start over, ever had to start over, like maybe you were making your famous family recipe for Lobster mac and Jesus. Boy, you, you had everything together in the baking dish. You've mixed everything up. You're just getting ready to stick it in the oven and you kind of look off to the side and, and you notice that bag of Jesus and, and you just wonder. Hm. And you look over at the expiration date and you noticed that it had expired 46 weeks ago. No, not 4 to 6 weeks ago, 46 weeks ago. It was old Jesus and you had to start over. You had to go back to the grocery store, get more lobster, get more Jesus and start the whole thing over again. Or maybe you were beginning your hike on your big camping weekend at Ugly Mountain up in Pendleton, West Virginia. That's a real place. And you, and you're halfway down the trail and you realize that you left your tent in the car. So you got to turn around and walk all the way back to the car, get your tent and start the hike all over again. Or maybe you started typing that essay paper for Mr Vernon's detention class and all of a sudden the computer just locks up. It just messes up and, and you can't get it to do anything. So, what are you going to do? Well, you're going to start over and how do you start over? I don't know. Maybe this is a, not a MAC thing. This is just a PC thing. But, but you, you do what's known as the old three finger salute. Control, alternate delete. You press those three buttons and when you press those three buttons, the computer does a little thing and it helps you kind of restart, terminates one thing so that you can keep going. I don't know about you, but there are a lot of moments in life. I wish I could hit control. Alternate delete, right? Control alt delete would be fantastic. And a lot of moments in life where you could just start over, you know, especially when things are not going the way you want them to go. Wouldn't it be nice? It would be nice if you just get a start over, get a do over, you know, get a Mulligan, do a reset. W wouldn't that be fantastic? Well, there actually is a way for us to do that. And what is that way? Well, let's find out we're going to be looking in the Bible today at the book of James and James is writing to people just like me and just like you and he's writing to help us learn how to make decisions in some of the hardest moments of life. In a way, James is going to help us see how we can always start over. Today's sermon is called Control Alt delete. And we're going to be looking in James chapter four beginning with verse 13, James writes. Come. Now you who say today or tomorrow. Now what James is doing is laying out a scenario that every single one of us go through every single day, whether you're a student or a parent or a teacher or a farmer or a landscaper or a manager or a supervisor, whether you are working shift work or whether you're retired, every single one of us do this every single day. And what it is is we kind of have to think about the day. Hey, where am I going? What time am I leaving? What am I wearing? Do I need to take something with me? What am I going to do when I get to wherever I'm going? When am I going to be leaving that place? What am I going to have for dinner? I gotta be honest. That's pretty much the only question I ask all day long. Hey, what's for dinner? That's, that's, that's just what goes through my mind all day. But, but we all do this right? We all have this moment. This scenario plays out with every single one of us. So what James is doing is he's taking that scenario and he's helping us think through it in, in real time. So we're just going to kind of break this down section by section. He says come now you who say today or tomorrow? So are setting out on a trip. They might leave today, might leave tomorrow. Not sure yet, but, but this is happening next. We will go to such and such a city. They, they mapped out their destination. They knew exactly where they were going and verse 13 and spend a year there. They put everything in Google calendar. They've set their reminders, they're going to be there for a year and after a year they're out of there, we will go to such and such a city and spend a year there and engage in business. This wasn't vacation, this wasn't pleasure. They were going to do business. We will go to such and such a city. Spend a year there, engage in business and make a profit. They weren't just going to hang out. They were going to make money. Boom, boom, boom. Here's the plan. Everything is together, this is what we're doing. However, everything is about to change. Uh A twist is about to come into the plot. Listen to verse 14 yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow yet yet. Yet. Wait, wait, wait, no matter how much planning, organizing and preparation, you do know how much no matter how much scheduling you do, you have absolutely no idea what's going to happen tomorrow. I don't and you don't. No way. We have no idea. Now in saying this James is not saying, don't ever plan and don't ever prepare. That's not what he's saying. There are, there are a gazillion different reasons for us to plan and prepare for so many different things. That's not what he's saying. He's simply trying to help us get a true view of life. A, a true view of life. Not, not just my view or your view or someone else's view, but a true view of life and not just a true view of life, but a true view of God. And, and what is that true view when it comes to, to today and tomorrow? What is the true view of life? Well, the true view is simply this, that God and God alone is the only one that knows what's happening tomorrow for that matter. God and God alone is the only one that knows what's happening today. So if that is God's knowledge and only His knowledge, if there's no one else that has that knowledge, then first and most our hearts and our minds should camp out most with God, our hearts and minds should camp out most with God and His truth as we seek to organize and plan and schedules, we seek to find purpose in life. It is not the next king or the next queen or the next president or the next pastor or principal or coach or anything else or anyone else on the planet that we need the most. What we need the most is the grace and the mercy, the insight, the comfort, the power, the authority, the majesty, the knowledge, the Foreknowledge and the love of God. That's what we need the most. Why, why do we need God the most? Here's why, because only God's will will be done. Now, we can try to throw our will down at home, at work at church where everyone but our will will never be the ultimate will never, no matter how much control you have at work, at home, at church, at school. Anywhere else in your world, your will will not ultimately be done. It is the will of God, that is the only will that will be done one day, Jesus was teaching his disciples how to pray. He was giving him a model prayer kind of a guide of how to pray. And this is how his prayer began. Matthew six. Our father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done. Now your will be done. Or as King James says, thy will be done. It, it sounds good, doesn't it? It sounds very spiritual. Sounds very baptist. Yes, God, your God, your will be done. Thy will be done. But if we're honest, we don't really like to pray like that. I mean, we may say it in our prayer but we, we don't always really mean it. Do we know why? Because we like to have a little more control. We like to keep our grip on what's really happening. Paul Tripp said this, I want my life to be comfortable. I want my schedule to be unobstructed and predictable. I want people to esteem and appreciate me. I want people to affirm my opinions. I want the pleasures that I find entertaining to be available to me, to be, to be available to me. I don't wanna suffer. I don't wanna live without. I don't wanna have to deal with personal defeat or failure. I get mad at someone. Not because he broke God's law, but because he broke mine. That's, that's very true for so many of us. He, he goes on, we get impatient with others because they seem to delay the realization of our kingdom's purposes. We get discouraged with God because he brings the very uncomfortable things into our lives that we work so hard to avoid. And then he says this, it is humbling to admit, but I want my kingdom to come and my will to be done. That may sting a little bit because it's just so true. He's, he's right. And, and, and that's from a Christian. You know, we as Christians, if we're honest, we, we kind of want our will to be done. We, we like that control when it comes to control alt delete in life, what we like the most is the control. CS Lewis said this, there are only two kinds of people in the end. Those who say to God, thy will be done and those to whom God says in the end, thy will be done. In other words, if someone hears the gospel, they hear the, the good news about Jesus Christ, the good news that a person can be transferred from the current and everlasting kingdom of darkness transferred into the current and everlasting kingdom of light. They hear that news and they reject it. They push away from it. They refuse to receive the salvation of Jesus. They refuse to repent and accept his redemption when they do that. What they are saying is basically this, I want my will to be done, period. And what Lewis is saying is this that if someone continues in the end to reject Jesus, then they will in a sense, get their will, their will will be done. They will be separated forever from God, from all this good and holy and happy and satisfying. Why? Because they wanted themselves more than they wanted God. So which person are you today? Which thy will be done applies to you? Is it the one where where you're striving to say, Lord, your will be done? Or is it the one where you're standing with your finches? Your fists clenched, saying my will, will be done. Look, all human beings of, of all ages have always struggled with the desire for control. Every single one of us struggle with this in some way, shape or form. Someone once said that maybe a helpful prayer for those of us who are struggling is something like this. God, I'm willing to be willing that your will should be done. That's, that's pretty good. So are you willing to be willing? Are you willing to be willing? That God's will should be done and will be done? And that you would rejoice in that? Look, none of us are perfect. We're not, none of us are perfect. We're always going to struggle with control. We're always going to to struggle with, with this desire to make sure that, that we're in charge of things. But if we are going to be Christians, we need to be sure that we're in the struggle. We need to be sure that we at least have a desire for God's kingdom to come, maybe put another way, a desire first and most that people would come to faith in Jesus Christ. Do you have that desire? Do you have a desire that, that there would be people not just coming to faith in Christ, but coming to faith in Christ in such a way that on this earth, in a sense, God's kingdom would be being built right now in such a way that men and women and boys and girls are discovering what it means that there is coming a day if they put their trust in Jesus, that the majesty and glory of His name will be what they see and what they enjoy forever. Do we have that kind of desire? And why should we, why should we have a, a desire that the Kingdom of God would be first and most, why should we have a desire that God's will would be done? Because that kind of desire, that kind of prayer, that kind of life at the very least shows evidence that we are at least acknowledging and affirming that we are not in control. A desire for God's kingdom. A desire for His will to be done is at least a little bit of evidence that we're saying we are not in control, but we are trusting in the one who is and just in case we're struggling with that still, just in case we're, we're struggling with this idea that God's ultimately in control and His His will is ultimately what's going to be accomplished. James knows he knows that that we're struggling just like he would struggle. So he's going to dig a little deeper and help us to grab this. Just a little more. Listen to what he says in verse 14 for you are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away a mist of va dash. That's, that's it poof in the blink of an eye. Our life is, is over and we're gone. Look, you can have a building named after you. You can have a hiking trail named after you. You can have a recipe for Lobster mac and Jesus named after you. But when you're gone, life will go on without you. That is real life and we don't like it because it just sounds yuck and gross. But if we can grab that, if we can really get that, our life is a vapor, just, just a blink, then what we'll do is we'll go wait a minute. It is extremely important for me to connect myself to God and his will and his truth and his kingdom. Because God and God alone is the only eternal reality. He was. He is he is to come. We are not like that. He is holy. Holy, holy. We are not. So we connect ourselves to the truth of God. We connect ourselves to His kingdom. We change our desire because we realize that we are small and He is not. And if we want our mist, our vapor, our breath, our dash to have meaning to us. If we wanted to have meaning in this world and, and meaning in the world to come, we do all that. We can to think and plan and schedule and organize and purpose our lives around God and His truth as our primary fuel. But why would we make God our primary fuel? Anybody ever run out of gas. Anybody ever have your, your gas light? Come on. Hey, you only got, you know, 49 miles. I mean, we know what it means. At least the, the theory, at least of running out of gas and, and what James is saying here is, it's not just going to be your car, it's not just going to be your bank account, it's not just going to be your retirement account. It is going to be your actual breaths will run out. And because that's true, your fuel needs to be something that doesn't run out. The message from heaven sung in the book of revelation puts it like this revelation 411 worthy are you our Lord and our God to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and because of your will, they existed and were created. Look, you are not here just to be here. You're not, you're not here just to, to make a plan to go somewhere and live for a year and make some money and come back. You're not here just to, to go to school and get a job and retire and, and, and, and go see natural wonders in the world. You, you are here for more than that. You have extreme value. You were created by the only God whose breath has never begun and never ends. He's always been. There's no way for him to run out of breath and life and being you were created by Him. And that means you have value. The fingerprints of God are all over your life. You're not here just to be here. You are here to know God, to enjoy God and to glorify God. If you're looking for, for purpose, that is your purpose. The abundant life that Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the grave to bring you. This is a huge part of it that your existence on this planet is not a waste of time. You are valuable. Your time here is valuable, but your time here is connected to the glory of God. We've been created to be connected to the glory of God. The abundant life that Jesus has died to bring us, that he rose again to bring us is a life that's free from the grip of the curse of sin and a life that's full of the enjoyment of God. So that in your mist, your vapor, your breath, your dash, you can get just a taste of what forever will be like. But that's not a small thing. It's not a small thing for us to be able to get a taste of what forever will look like. Listen, whatever your best is your best job, your best house, your best car, whatever it is, your, your best food, whatever your best is, it does not remotely compare to the greatness and majesty and beauty and power and authority of the taste of forever and what forever holds. That's real life. It, it doesn't sound like it. That will not sound like it when you have to go to the bank this week. It won't sound like it when you're paying your bills online. It won't sound like it when something messes up with the finances and look, you may be the most perfect accountant and bookkeeper in the world. But I know some amazing accountants that tell me the stories of when things mess up. You aren't perfect and I am not perfect. We will fail, we will mess up, we will do the wrong thing. God doesn't fail. So we connect ourselves to him. So that in our moment of failure, we're still tasting forever because when we're failing everyone around, you will try to make you taste your failure. We know that right. We've experienced that, haven't we? But to be in Jesus Christ means that in our moment of failure and look, it may be grand failure. You know, it, it may be us doing something really dumb and stupid and we'll have to own that. But even in our moment of failure, the taste of forever can never leave the child of God. Why? Because we get we're a vapor and he's not, we get our, our glory is temporary. His is not. And when we get that, it changes how we talk, changes, how we talk, changes, how we think changes how we live, not perfectly ok. We, none of us are going to get this perfect this week. But, but it'll be there, we'll see it, we'll hear it. You know, one of the ways we'll see it and hear it. James tells us, listen to verse 15. Instead you ought to say if the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or do that. See, that's the control alt delete in life. It's us saying over and over again that we're going to start over mentally and practically, and we're going to delete that desire for unnecessary control. And we are going to start embracing an alt life, an alternative to how we're thinking the moment we're going to, we're going to start embracing an alt life. And James says the alt life sounds like this. Lord willing. Now, I, I know here in the South we say Lord will in the creek don't rise, you know, and, and it's fine, whatever, but let's not make fun of it, you know, truthfully forget the stinking creek. You know, don't, don't, don't even think about the funny phrase. Just go, Lord Willie Lord willing, let those two words begin to, to simmer in your mind as a, as two words of joy that the majesty and glory of God, his will and his kingdom. They are coming, they're going to be accomplished. And so we begin not just with words, but with an attitude that says Lord willing, God, I, I don't, I don't know if I'm going there today or tomorrow. And I don't know if I'm going to stay there a year or a week. And I don't know if, when I get there, if I'm going to make money or not make money. But whatever I do, lord, my life is in your hands. If I'm going to succeed at what matters the most, then lord, my life needs to be in your hands. That's the alt way of living. That's the, the alt way of thinking. That's how we start over, over and over again. We begin to think and talk and pray and live with a Lord willing mentality. We still plan, we still prepare, we still do all the things we need to do. But, but we do it with this understanding of, you know, Lord willing, I'm going to trust and obey you God, your kingdom, your will. Because that's actually the only way for me to be happy and for me to be happy in Jesus sounds good. Right? Boy, it's hard in real life, isn't it? It just is, it's hard in real life. I was reading about some moms that were studying the Bible. They gathered for their weekly Bible study. I think it was maybe a monthly Bible study. And they were studying that model prayer from Jesus that, that guide of prayer. And then they came to the part of your will be done. And this is what one of the moms said. I feel like if I pray those words. I'm going to bring on what I'm trying to avoid. I know I don't have that kind of power but it just feels like it. Another mom said this God's will scares me. I want my will. It, it feels safer. The rest of the room began to chime in one of them said she was worried about her newborn baby's poor hearing test. Another one said she had a young son who was harming himself. Another one said she'd recently lost her job. Another one had a husband who was not a Christian and then there was Jen Osman Jen's dad at the time was, was terminally ill. He was dying and he just continued to reject the gospel. Just continued to reject the gospel, just continued to hang on to his will be done. Jim made the following observation about why they were all probably struggling so much in that conversation. This is what she said. Maybe it's because we control so much of our lives. We have Dominion over the temperature in our homes. I mean, do y'all realize I can basically control my mother's life from my phone? It it's scary. I can cut lights on anywhere and everywhere in a stat in her apartment. II, I might be able to brush her hair and I just haven't figured it out yet. I don't know. We, we have so much control, right? She said we have Dominion over the temperature in our homes, the schools our kids attend and the quality of food we buy. We enjoy the repeated and predictable fruit of our labor. We grow accustomed to the illusion of control. Oh, that's just a knife in my back. Right. It's an illusion she goes on. But sick, newborn babies and job losses and gravely ill parents intrude and shake us to the core. We find that James is right. We don't know what tomorrow will bring. We don't have the ultimate control we thought we had. So what do we do? Control alt delete. That's, that's what we do. We, we again mentally and practically begin to delete. We work at deleting this desire for unnecessary control and we begin to pursue and embrace the alt life, the the alt life of Lord willing your kingdom come, your will be done. And what happens when we begin to do that? Here's what happens. Our grip changes. Jen says this when we say in faith to the God who loves us, Lord, not my will but yours be done. We uncurl our fingers, we we, we loosen that grip our rapid heartbeat and fretting words slow to a quiet. We soften and take on a posture that is free to remember that our God wills what's best for us and he always has. Sounds great, right? We're in church. That sounds great. God's will is always good for us so we can already feel ourselves going. Hm. Yeah. But you don't know my situation. You don't know what I'm struggling with. You don't know what my family is going through. You don't know what's happening at work. You, you don't know the unknowns of my life. So when we throw up our defenses, is, is there some fuel to help us, Jen gives us some Jesus whose will it was to die in our place is in charge of all things and holds them all together. What does that matter? What does that mean? She goes on? So when my friend worries that her baby will be deaf, we can sit together and remember God's mercy at the cross. When my other friend is wrecked with anxiety over her son's self harm, we can remember that Jesus rose from the dead when I panic because my dad has not yet surrendered to the Lord. I can remind myself that God has proven to be trustworthy time and time again. And after we remember, we can ask with authenticity that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven because we know that his will is very, very good. How do we know that? Because because we're all very quick to say mm mm I'm not, I'm not happy with whatever this is this. No, no, this this isn't good. So what about God has proven himself time and time again. How do we know that's true. The simplest test I can give you right now is this are you currently breathing. I, I mean, I, I'm not even trying to be silly if you're breathing. You didn't do that on your own because you know what you could be in the hospital right now, hooked up to a machine. They may be able to help you to breathe, but you can't breathe on your own without the kindness and grace of God. So if you are breathing today and you were breathing yesterday and by God's mercy, you will be breathing tomorrow. God has already proven himself to be good to you over and over and over again because you're breathing. And if you are in Christ, when you stop breathing, holy cow, God will be good to you. He'll be good to you. How else do we know that God's will is very good because it was God's will to make sure there was a way for us to be rescued from the curse of sin that, that the grip of that curse would, would not hold us forever. That's how we know that God's good and His will is good and His kingdom is good. It doesn't mean we have to like how anything plays out in our individual lives doesn't mean we have to be happy and celebrate the hard things, but we don't get to say God's not good because the cross always says that God is good. This is what Jen said. The hands that hold our future are the same hands that were pierced for us. I I'm glad that it's a mom saying that and not me today. You know, because preachers can say that it's just a mom, a mom who says, you know what, when everything feels like it's falling apart, the hand that holds my future, those hands are the same hands that were pierced for me. So on this mother's day mothers, grandmothers and all the rest of us when fear and worry and anger and frustration and apathy and that penetrating desire for control. When those things come and they will, they, they'll come over and over again. Let us learn what it means to start over. Let us learn a lot about this alt life, this life where we turn to God and we say, Lord willing your, your will be done. Lord. And why would we do that? What we would look at the hands that were pierced for us. We would remember that those hands were not only pierced, but those hands rose from the grave and over and over again. We would start over and we will say with joy, even through our tears, God, your will be done because you are good and those pierced hands always prove it.