Jeremiah knows full well to weakness and insufficiency of man on his own. He comments on these things in various places.

“Yahweh, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.”
Jer 10:23

Or again, from Proverbs.

“A man’s steps are from Yahweh;
How then can man understand his way?”
Prov 20:24

Jeremiah knows that evil men need to be
brought to account.

For those who do not, will not, call on His name, and ruin the righteous, Jeremiah knows they deserve to be punished and calls on God to do it,

“Pour out your wrath on the nations that don’t know you, and on the families that don’t call on your name: for they have devoured Jacob, yes, they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.”
Jer 10:25

But also Jeremiah knows that we need much instruction and mercy to even survive. Jeremiah is an inspired prophet of God, following in faith, and tenaciously holding to the Lord even when none will follow him. Still he is aware of how vulnerable he is.

“Yahweh, correct me, but in measure: not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.”
Jer 10:24

James, the half-brother of Jesus, likewise
knows these things.

“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow let’s go into this city, and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit.””
Jas 4:13

He goes on to say that we do not even know what our very lives will be like tomorrow! If we have any insight, and foresight, it is not of ourselves but of God. James goes on to say that we are but vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes. He does NOT say we are LIKE a vapor! He says WE ARE A VAPOR! We need to listen to God.

Yes, we can plan and think and “want” and ”will”
to do things.

“The plans of the heart belong to man,
But the answer of the tongue is from Yahweh.”
Prov 16:1

But we are not omnipotent, all powerful.

So often we cannot always carry out what we “will.” We are often overcome in even our day to day intentions to do or to seek.

“There are many plans in a man’s heart,
But Yahweh’s counsel will prevail.”
Prov 19:21

“For you ought to say, “If the Lord wills,

“we will both live, and do this or that.””
Jas 4:15

He is the One who is really in control. That is the sober truth of the matter. Though we may strut and swagger and boast, at the end of the day, Yahweh, He is God, and you and I are merely men. Men who very much need the support and advice and the foresight of the One and Only Living God, and who should never put our own understanding before that of God’s.

Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901