D.V. James 4 D.V. I learnt these strange

D.V.
James 4
D.V. I learnt these strange 2 letters in my first church.
I had a lovely man who was my usher.
But after every Sunday morning I would ask him, “Are you okay to welcome people into the church tonight Harry?” His reply was “Aye, D.V.”
It is the Initials of the Latin words Deo Volente, meaning God willing. I don’t think Harry knew any other Latin! Yet these 2 letters would put me in a spin during the afternoon wondering who would be on the door if D.V. was in the negative!
When James writes, “If it is the Lord’s will …” v15 he is not commanding us to spend our lives wondering if we are in the Lord’s will or not.
But he says this in the context of those who were giving loud presumptuous boasts of what they were going to achieve.
I remember a colleague giving his vision talk to his church and stating they would be a 500 strong church within 2 years. The church of 12 people were very excited to hear this even though they never saw it.
We are living in times of the most amazing declarations. Themes for conferences are often presumptuous boasts to actually outdo the other conference across the road.
Recently I was criticised for having no vision. I have a clear vision of the Spirit, the Missionaries and the Church and underneath those 3 components are clear directions. However, I don’t have numbers and dates and graphs etc. That disappointed my friend. My vision wasn’t good enough for him. I was tempted to make some numbers up just to comfort him!
I love how Eugene Peterson puts it in the Message,
“Instead, make it a habit to say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.” v15.
I do love this!
I like putting the onus on the Master.
I am content to say I am doing His will and if I survive I will do some more Deo Volente!