We may not be familiar with this Latin phrase, but many Christians use its English translation (“God willing” or “If the Lord wills”) to punctuate our statements about our future plans.
“I will visit my son in the US this summer, God willing.”
This phrase signifies our total dependence on God’s grace, even after we have done our planning. It emphasizes the fact that no plan will take off without God’s will. And because we utter it through our mouth, with our own voice, we remind ourselves that even if we have the money, the energy, and the time to go to the US this summer, we are absolutely powerless to carry out our plan.
Likewise, this phrase is not only for us, but also for the unbelievers who hear us say it. They will discover our faith and if they question why we keep saying the phrase, then they are opening the door for us to explain the gift of salvation.
James wrote in chapter 4, verses15-16, “What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’ Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.”
We all have plans. But if we do not connect to the profound thought of Deo volente, we might be clinging stubbornly to what we can do by ourselves through our own smarts and skills—minus God.
James warns us in verse 17, “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.”
Saying “God willing” is one way we can reject sin and pursue righteousness by acknowledging and submitting to God’s plan for our lives. Anything and everything hinges on the Lord.
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