Whose work?

August 23, 2011

Proverbs 16:3 Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established

When I first read this verse I really had to think about it a lot.  In fact several days went by and I was still thinking about this verse and its meaning. I don’t know why really because this really is an easy sort of verse to grasp or is it? Is it as simple as committing your work to the LORD or does it involve something more complex. John MacArthur in his study bible says commit is “a sense of total trust and submission to the will of God…” and that submission will bring about the fulfillment of your “righteous” plans. Commit is defined as “to give in trust or charge. Established is defined as “to install or settle in position.” This isn’t just a simple I give MY WORK, the work that I decided on, to the Lord, and He will make it all work out right in the end. No, it’s more of a soul searching, isn’t it always, to see what is the work God would have us to do, then committing that work to God. He won’t establish work that He hasn’t designed for us to do. He won’t honor our work in an area that He doesn’t want us to be in. Perhaps that is where some of our struggles with work come from; perhaps we are engaged in work that isn’t in God’s plan for us. That would mean that we were battling both the work itself and our knowledge that God doesn’t want us to be here anyway. No wonder sometimes work is hard. Not to say that when we recognize God’s plan and start working in that area everything will run smoothly, chances are it won’t; the work will still be hard. Sometimes where God wants us to work is the last place we want to be; yet, for this verse to be fulfilled in our lives we must commit to ANY work that God desires in our lives. Through that commitment our plans, whatever they are, will be established.