Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”
I still use that one! One grandmother was from the Midwest, my other grandparents lived not too far from a river that is known to breach it's banks on a semi-regular basis. 😂🤣
I grew up with that saying in the Florida Panhandle; just a few miles from the Alabama border. And lived in a spot where creeks rising would temporarily cut us off from the rest of the world.
But Recently, someone told me that saying actually comes from the days of the Indian Wars, and refers to the possibility of the Creeks going on the war path.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”
— James 4:13-15 LSB
“My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me.”
Psalm 31:15
That is one of my favorites, especially the first part, given all my medical issues/mysteries. 🙏🏻🙌🏻
Such a great reminder that as Proverbs 16:9 says, "A man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps."
Yes I thought of that verse too! Such a humbling perspective for when we get too big for our britches.
And for me that's more often than it should be.
😁
In many cultures, including our own, 'God willing' was always added to a future event.
In western cultures, the secular has done away with that.
Muslims still say 'Insh allah'...aka: God willing.
I grew up in southwest Missouri hearing, “Lord willing and the creek don’t rise.”
I still use that one! One grandmother was from the Midwest, my other grandparents lived not too far from a river that is known to breach it's banks on a semi-regular basis. 😂🤣
Mrs. "the Knife"
I still say it too. My Oklahoma-born kids laugh about my "Hillbilly" sayings. :)
I grew up with that saying in the Florida Panhandle; just a few miles from the Alabama border. And lived in a spot where creeks rising would temporarily cut us off from the rest of the world.
But Recently, someone told me that saying actually comes from the days of the Indian Wars, and refers to the possibility of the Creeks going on the war path.
I need to research that.
Found it!
https://nativeheritageproject.com/2012/08/20/god-willing-and-the-creek-dont-rise/
I have Creek (Muskogee) heritage and nobody wants us to rise.😂. Just ask my ex-husband.
I'm still sporting that one with a minor addition, "Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise.