What does it really mean to commit your plans to the Lord (especially in the area of money and investing)?

"Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed." Prov 16:3 NLT

This is an often quoted verse and there are various perspectives you can draw from it.  But I was recently drawn to the word COMMIT.

One interpretation would be that we have to be 100% committed to whatever we are doing. That it is something WE have to work hard at doing. Almost like the story of story of Cortés and the burning of his ships in 1519 so there is no turning back. Sometimes there is a place for that, but I felt in this verse and context, there was something else.

So I checked up the word commit and the root word is "galal", which means to roll or to roll away. It is often used in the context of a stone being rolled over a well in the ground, either to cover it or uncover it.

Wells are an important resource and different peoples would sometimes fight over it because access to water could mean the difference between life and death. Also, wells often represent the provision of the Lord and times of refreshing. The SUPPLY is there, in the ground, even though often it is not visible to the eye (like a water stream).

But, do you know that it is actually not that difficult to roll away the stone that covers a well? Otherwise the women in those days would not have been able to do it. It does however, require some effort on their part to roll away the stone.

In the context of this verse, I feel the commit is to do your part to ROLL AWAY the stone, to reveal the supply of the Lord that is already there, reveal the refreshing that is available, AND YOUR PLANS WILL SUCCEED. And like the stone covering the well, it is not even that difficult.

Do you know where ROLL AWAY also appears prominently? In the gospels where the tomb of Jesus was rolled away to reveal that He was risen!

Yes, there is a place for that 100% commitment to whatever we want to DO, but that's very demand focused. But where our plans are concerned, I feel it is even more important to focus on REVEALING THE SUPPLY of the Lord, and HIS FINISHED WORK. 

And as we reveal (by meditating on and getting a deeper revelation) of the supply and love that is already there, it is very hard for our faith and confidence not to arise at the same time. And as we get a deeper revelation, we stay "in tune" or "centered" more. We become more sensitive to whether we might be steering off course. We might even get new ideas and inspiration. Because it is now coming from a place of rest.

No wonder our plans will succeed! Blessings!