PROVERBS 16:3
Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.
The depth of the word of God blows my mind away sometimes. He desires so much for us to know and understand Him and yet it’s overwhelming when I even delve into one verse alone. What must it have been like to have been Adam and Eve who were created in the image of God and walked with God face to face? They did not have the internet to search out wisdom, nor did they need it. They walked with Wisdom. It causes me wonder how directionally challenged I am in life because I depend upon man made gimmicks and gadgets to study, when, if I just walked a little closer to God the well would be far deeper.
After multiple attempts and failures to define who “The Jesus Chick” is I determined to leave that to God. Wouldn’t that have been a novel idea from the beginning? So over the weekend when the word “focus” kept being implanted into my brain it was if God was taking my sweet little cheeks into His hands and drawing my eyes toward Him saying … “focus on Me, Shari… not the world. It has nothing for you. You’re not of the world.”
This weekend I began a new process of communication with God called “Two way journaling” and those conversations have been pretty intense. But always with the word “focus” coming into my mind.
It’s hard to focus when the world is calling. It takes an intentional mindset of shutting it out and the use of a soothing YouTube video of meditation music didn’t hurt. Two days of hearing that word… and today was the third. So I took the verse Proverbs 16:3 and dissected it using the Strong’s Concordance and a Matthew Henry Commentary for clarification of its meaning. Just a dozen words, but they lead me to focus on the journey of Shari. Insert your name instead of mine and see if they lead you to a journey of [___________].
com·mit /kəˈmit/
When I first looked at the word commit in the Strong’s concordance it was defined as “roll.” To which my first, second and third thoughts were, “that ain’t right, this concordance is defining the wrong word, how would commit = roll?” And of course, I was wrong. After following that word through in the Matthew Henry Commentary I discovered that commit meant “to roll our burdens”, the great concerns of our soul upon the Lord and depend upon Him rather than self.
My word “focus” made much more sense in that context. The works of life that I have desired to do have not been rolled upon the Lord, but rather carried upon my shoulders, taking my focus off of the Lord. It turns out when you’re walking bent over from being worn out… it’s hard to look up to Jesus.
Works/wərks/
Another great discovery I made was that the word “works” in the Strong’s concordance is translated to “art” in some of its contexts. My art is a gift I’ve struggled with understanding God’s purpose in since salvation. So to see it used in this manner brought joy and hope to my soul. Although I thought that I had committed my art “unto the Lord, I really committed it to the purpose of others. I refused to see the purpose God had in it for me as an income or career because art is subjective and a matter of preference. Self-appointed critics or a lack of appreciation of my time invested can suck the enjoyment out of a piece of work pretty quickly. So rather than listening to the Lord, I listened to self… which always gets me into trouble.
Thought /THôt/
That’s where the creativity begins, but certainly not where it ends. In my mind there is a contrivance, a fabrication that begins there but ends with the hands of creativity. Strong’s defined it as a “cunning work,” or a work with “purpose.” My hearts to desire is to have purpose in the Lord.
es·tab·lish /əˈstabliSH/
Not only is that the conclusion of the verse, but the end product to the creative works placed in the Lord’s hands. Defined as “to stand” as a pillar would stand. Those things that will stand and make an eternal difference. How can art do that? It will for certain burn up in the end times. But not if it is established in the heart of man and inspires others to seek Christ. That is my “FOCUS.”