As I sought to begin my day by checking out the verse for the day on the YouVersion Bible AP, I found myself captivated by this simple verse, Proverbs 16:3. It reads: “Commit your works to the LORD, and your plans will be established.” (NASB) Since I had a lot to do today, I found that to be inspiring. Little did I know how freeing and life changing that little, simple verse would be.
The question came to my mind – “What does the word ‘commit’ mean?” This took me on an hour and a half journey. I will share with you the condensed version.
The cross reference to this verse is Psalm 37:5. (A cross reference is another Bible passage that has a similar meaning, concept or a similar usage of the same word). It reads: “Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it.” It is another inspiring verse. Wow! So, when I looked up the meaning of the word, “commit,” I saw that in the Hebrew it meant “to roll.” I was a little confused because that didn’t seemed to fit what I had imagined it would mean. As I read further, it began to make more sense and became revelational. It referred to the rolling of a stone (in Bible times it would be a huge rock or boulder) or another type of concrete object. In practical usage, it would be rolling something from someone (a removal) or rolling something to someone (to commit or entrust- particularly to God).
So, in the context of Proverbs 16:3, to “commit our works to the LORD” is to envision them as a large rock or boulder and see yourself rolling it over to the LORD – God for Him to handle. We would be trusting Him to handle it thus relieving ourselves of the burden. If frees us from the anxiety, worries, and fear of failure.
There is a promise attached to this. The verse goes on to say that “your plans will be established.” The word “established” means “to be set in place; to be caused to stand.” (Strongs Exhaustive Concordance as referenced in The Key Word Bible) In essence it is saying that when we roll our works over on to God, He will cause our plans to stand, to be effective. This is how it would work. You give whatever that area of responsibility you have to God then He is the one who will call the “shots.” He will guide you in your planning and preparations. Since He knows all things and sees all things, He knows what would be successful and what would not be successful. So, when we follow His direction in making our plans, we can count on them to accomplish their purpose.
Therefore, rolling our works (areas of responsibilities) over to God doesn’t mean we do nothing. What it means is that we allow Him to be in charge of them and we proceed to fulfill our responsibilities in submission to Him. That is looking to Him for direction and responding in obedience as we carry out our duties then our plans will be effective. Truly the common saying, “No worries,” could be true of our lives.
The Challenge
What areas of responsibility do you have right now. I challenge you to take an object that will roll (a can, a ball, etc.) into your hand and envision it representing one of those responsibilities. Then envision God sitting or standing opposite you. Then say out loud, “God, I roll (name the area of responsibility) over to You. It is Yours.” Do that for each area of responsibility that you have, one at a time. It may include your job, your family life, areas of ministry, etc. Do this in faith and give Him praise as you thank Him for handling it. Receive His peace (Philippians 4:6,7). Then set your heart to seek His direction in all that you do and obey His leading.
Have a blessed and prosperous day!
