Day 2 - Clear the Fog
A Weightless Devotional
“Commit your works to the LORD, and your plans will be established.” (Proverbs 16:3)
Anxiety often comes when we feel a lack of control—of our lives and the lives of those we love. But still, we hold on for dear life to our hopes, our plans, and our aspirations, believing that if we hold on just a bit tighter, we can make sure everything will turn out how we want. But this mindset turns our obvious lack of control into a trigger for anxiety, as it reminds us that we don’t have the power or ability to control the world around us.
The wisdom found in Proverbs 16:3 gives us a powerful antidote to this anxiety: “Commit your works to the LORD, and your plans will be established.”
But what does it mean to ‘commit your works’ to the Lord, and how does this alleviate your anxiety?
Works means everything you do—your daily tasks, responsibilities, goals, and deeds. They are the ways that you invest your time, energy, and resources.
When you hold onto your works and keep them to yourself rather than committing them to the Lord, you take sole responsibility for them. That’s when stress, worry, and a constant feeling of being overwhelmed creep in, and you become acutely aware of your limitations and uncertainties.
To ‘commit your works to the Lord’ means to entrust what you have to do to Him. It means making a conscious decision to release your stone-cold grip on your to-do list and place it instead into the loving and capable hands of the Father, actively choosing to let go of control. But this act of letting go requires faith and humility, and an acknowledgment that God's wisdom and power far surpass your own.
Trying to control your life by relying on your own strength and know-how is like trying to navigate a journey through a dense fog without any fog lights. But God’s promises are the fog lights of faithfulness, love, and provision. They help us to clear the fog and see beyond our immediate circumstances to a view of His sovereign power and love. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can apply these promises to our lives and blow away the fog of doubt and fear.
Your decisions, your actions, and your thoughts—how you walk the walk and talk the talk—these are your works. When you commit those works to the Lord, they become about Him rather than you. When you pray, read your Bible, listen for the Holy Spirit, and surrender your life to God, you draw yourself and your works onto Him, and that’s how you commit your works. It’s a day-by-day endeavor, not a one-time surrender.
Committing your works to the Lord relieves your body, mind, and spirit of a great weight because, suddenly, you no longer find yourself with too much to do and too little time to do it. That’s not to say that you are suddenly passive or irresponsible, but your daily tasks go from burdensome to light with that one act of commitment.
As you commit your works to the Lord each day, you will find that your plans are established—not by your striving, but by His grace. This doesn’t guarantee a life free of challenges, but it does guarantee that God’s purposes will prevail, bringing you peace in the midst of any storm. Trust in His promises, rely on the Holy Spirit, and let God clear the way before you as you commit your works to Him and release the workings of your life to Him.
Thoughts to Ponder
In what ways could you give up the responsibility of your works to the Lord?
What control in life could you give up to others?
Mel Robbins coined the phrase, “Let the,” to be said whenever someone is not doing what you want them to do. The next time that happens, just tell yourself, “Just let them.”
In this scenario—excluding kids you’re responsible for—what could you say to yourself about letting God work in the lives of those around you?