How to Get All your Plans to Succeed

Hiking the Barr Creek Boulders near Prospect, Oregon

I don’t know about you, but I hate it when my plans don't succeed.

In Proverbs 16:3, the author writes, “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.”

I’ve been committing my plans to the Lord for decades of my life but, to be honest, many of them fail. Have I gotten something wrong?

I’ve been committing my plans to the Lord. I mean, I tell Him my ideas and plans and say, “I commit these to you, God. Please bless my plans and make them succeed.” I need to look at this verse more carefully. What does “commit” really mean in this context?

Here's Proverbs 16:3 in a variety of different versions. I’ve grouped them according to the use of the word “commit” vs. “entrust” vs. other verbs, and I’ve included my personal and honest conversation with God.

·      Commit your activities to the Lord, and your plans will be established. (CSB)

·      Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will succeed. (CEB)

·      Commit what you do to the Lord, and your plans will be established. (EHV)

·      Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. (ESV)

·      Commit your activities to the Lord, and your plans will be achieved. (HCSB)

·      Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established. (MEV)

·      Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. (NIV)

God, I’ve always thought “commit” meant what the English language describes as dedicating or pledging. I say, “Here are my plans, Lord. I dedicate them to you, so please make them succeed.” But either the versions of this verse are flat out wrong, or I don’t really know what “commit” means.

Here are other translations of this verse:

·      If you entrust all you do to Adonai, your plans will achieve success. (CJB)

God, I think I do this, but I’m not always or often achieving success, so this version isn’t meaningful to me.

·      Share your plans with the Lord, and you will succeed. (CEV)

·      Put your plans in front of the Lord, so that what you want to do will go well. (EASY)

Okay, You know I do this all the time, Lord. I share everything with you, and constantly put my plans before You, but it definitely does not guarantee success, so these versions don’t resonate with me.

·      Turn to the Lord for help in everything you do, and you will be successful. (ERV)

I’m pretty sure I do this too, Lord. I’m turning to you for practically everything I do, but it hasn’t led to my being successful, so this version doesn’t make sense to me.

·      Depend on the Lord in whatever you do [Commit your acts/deeds to the Lord], and your plans will ·succeed [be established]. (EXB)

·      Depend on the Lord in whatever you do. Then your plans will succeed. (ICB)

·      Entrust your efforts to the Lord, and your plans will succeed. (GW)

·      Entrust everything that you do to the Lord, and your plans will turn out to be successful. (NCB)

·      Trust your work to the Lord, and your plans will work out well. (NLV)

The above translations remind me of Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.”

I think I do that fairly well, God. I mean, I consistently tell You I trust in You and ask for Your will to be done, since I can’t ever seem to figure out Your perfect will. I mean, this sounds defeatist, but what happens is very often not at all what I ask for, so I have to trust that what happens is according to Your will. (Yeah, I’m a little discouraged by failed plans at the moment.)

So, if I’m depending on You, Lord, and I’m entrusting my efforts to You, but my plans still aren’t succeeding, then these versions don’t make any sense to me.

On to the next translations…

·      Ask the Lord to bless your plans, and you will be successful in carrying them out. (GNT)

Okay, surely this version makes no sense. I do my part, but it doesn’t look like You’re holding up Your end of the bargain. I consistently ask You to bless my plans, Lord, but, while I may be successful in carrying them out, I’m not experiencing a whole lot of success—at least, according to my understanding of success.

·      Put God in charge of your work, then what you’ve planned will take place. (MSG)

Oh, come on. How do I put You in charge of my work, God? I can say it: “God, I put You in charge of my work,” but what does that even look like? I’m the one who has to actually do the work, so I don’t get this version at all.

And, finally…

·      Roll unto Jehovah thy works, And established are thy purposes. (YLT)

What’s all this about “rolling” our work onto You, Lord?

Here’s how Strong’s Lexicon cites the meaning of “commit”:

The Hebrew verb "galal" primarily means "to roll" or "to roll away." It is used in various contexts, often implying the physical action of rolling something, such as a stone or a burden. The term can also be metaphorical, indicating the removal or taking away of obstacles or burdens.

This reminds me of “casting all our cares upon the Lord” from 1 Peter 5:7. (Something else I struggle to do, by the way.)

How do I “galal” my works upon the Lord?

The Hebrew word “galal” is very different from a flippant, “Hey, I dedicate my work to You, Lord, so I expect success.” But how do I roll my work onto You, Lord?

·      Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed. (AMPC)

Wow. The AMPC version portrays this verse in a far deeper and more comprehensive and even realistic way. I can pray this version:

I roll my burdensome obstacle of work upon You, Lord, committing and entrusting my work wholly to You; and I believe You will fulfill Your promise to me to cause my thoughts to come into agreement with Your will so that my plans will be established and succeed.

To be honest, I still don’t understand how to “roll” my heavy, burdensome work onto You, Lord, but I do resonate with asking You to cause my thoughts to come into agreement with Your will so my plans will succeed.

Barr Creek Boulders near Prospect, Oregon

I really enjoy hiking in beautiful places in God's creation. Pete and I went recently on a hike amongst gigantic boulders on a trail near Barr Creek Falls just outside of Prospect, Oregon. The boulders were beautiful in an awe-inspiring, intimidating way. There's no way a human could roll away one of those boulders. (By the way, if was teaching this message as a sermon, I'd show slides and video clips of our hike through the Barr Creek boulders.)

I've also moved very large rocks on our property in Montague, California. And when I say "very large," I mean basketball-sized stones that I'm physically unable to lift, because they're so heavy, all I can do is roll them. (If I was teaching, this is where I'd bring some heavy rocks and ask members of the congregation to roll them across the stage.)

We're trying to plan our first official full-length True North Quests workshop in Ashland, Oregon this spring (2025). Will it happen? Will people come? Will it succeed? If we roll the burden of preparing and planning for this workshop onto the Lord, will He show us how to commit it to Him and entrust it to Him? Will He mold our thoughts into agreement with His plans and His will? We're learning, always, always learning.

Sometimes, often, or even always for some of us, our work feels heavy and burdensome, and we wish we could roll it onto God, who can carry it all, and bless that work so it will succeed. It sounds like God is actually telling us to roll our work onto Him. I'm not sure what that means yet, but I'm praying about it.

In the meantime, we have close friends in a small group or older, wiser people from church, or mentors or even coaches we pay to offer us sage advice and direction in our decision-making times. That's where we help others too. People come to us (and even sometimes stay with us in our home as BnB guests) seeking wisdom to make decisions when their lives feel stuck or at a crossroads. We are honored to help, and we want to extend that invitation to you too.

Call us at 530-598-5935 to book a free 30-minute consultation to see if we can help you in follow-up sessions. We can't guarantee that all your plans will succeed, but we can help you have a higher probability of making decisions that will succeed.

Prayer:

Lord, show me how to physically roll my heavy, burdensome work onto You. Show me how to fully commit and entrust my work to You. Cause my thoughts about my work to come into agreement with Your will, so my plans can be established by You and succeed. Amen.