What Does It Actually Mean to Commit Your Work? (Proverbs 16:3)

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

Proverbs 16:3 is often quoted as a promise that if we involve God in our plans, He’ll make them succeed. But the Hebrew word behind “commit” adds a surprising and challenging layer.

The verb galal literally means “to roll something onto” — like shifting a heavy burden from your shoulders onto someone stronger. This isn’t a polite handoff or a quick prayer before starting a project. It’s a decisive act of transferring weight.

Which raises the real question: What weight am I still carrying that I claim to have surrendered?

Most of us “commit” our work verbally while clutching the outcomes with a tight grip. We pray for God to bless our plans while quietly insisting they unfold our way, in our timing, at our pace.

But Proverbs doesn’t tell us to commit our results — it tells us to commit our work. The effort. The process. The labor itself. It’s an invitation to roll the entire rhythm of our lives—our decisions, our craft, our discipline, our ambition—onto God’s shoulders.

And then comes the promise: “Your plans will be established.”

Notice the order.
God doesn’t establish your plans before you commit the work.
God establishes your plans as a consequence of surrender.

This is the paradox:
We want clarity before obedience.
God gives clarity through obedience.

You roll the weight onto Him.
He shapes the outcomes you were never meant to control.

This verse, then, isn’t passive. It demands something uncomfortable:
A daily re-orientation of trust.
A willingness to let God redefine the timeline, the metrics, even the goals themselves.
A humble recognition that His establishment is more secure than our striving.

Prayer: Father, teach me to roll the weight of my work onto You. Not just the outcome, but the effort itself. Form my plans according to Your wisdom, not my urgency. Establish what is from You, and dissolve what is not. Make my work an act of trust, not control. Amen.