LIVING IN ALIGNMENT
In a recent blog I wrote about the importance of embracing the processes of our lives. Often we despise process because, let’s face it; it’s just plain tough sometimes! There are many seasons we walk through in life. Some seasons are welcomed and others we’d rather forget. However, it’s important to always remember that process is mandatory.
You cannot BECOME the person God intends you to be unless you submit yourself to the process of BECOMING the person God intends you to be!
Personally, I am walking through a season unlike any I’ve ever been in before. Although we are now just three months into 2018, 2017 was a year of major transition. Literally everything changed! My entire world shifted. I released my first worship record. My husband and I resigned from our role as Lead Pastors of a thriving church. We launched a new global ministry. We moved our family thousands of miles cross-country and settled in a new community and culture. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is different.
Have you ever been through something like that? If so, you can probably relate to experiencing feelings of insecurity, doubt, loneliness, and possibly even despair. Yet at the same time, you may have also felt 100 % sure, excited, hopeful, and downright giddy! It’s a weird place to be, isn’t it?
Just as process is mandatory, transition is inevitable.
If you haven’t noticed yet, seasons change! I absolutely love the transition that occurs between summer and fall. The vivid colors begin to light up the trees; the air turns crisp. All of a sudden, transition has come. A season is ending, and a new one is beginning. Transition means change. You can bank on the fact that in some way, shape or form, God will transition you many times in the course of your lifetime. If you have confessed Jesus as Lord of your life, and committed to live as a disciplined follower of Christ Jesus, you are now part of a Kingdom that is constantly moving, shifting, transitioning.
The Kingdom of God is not stagnant. Therefore, neither are we!
As believers we are constantly being changed (constantly transitioning) into His likeness and becoming more and more like Jesus.
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
This transformation happens when we spend time in God’s presence (in His glory), experiencing the goodness of all that He is. A crucial first step in the process of alignment is making time to be in God’s presence. In order to do this, we have to push aside all the things that seem to be more important than Him. In today’s society we suffer greatly from lack of focus because there are so many things pulling our attention away from the things that matter the most.
Being in alignment means that you are highly focused on very few things, not half heartedly focused on many things.
I challenge you today to take a good hard look at everything that you are currently doing. Are there things that you are doing that don’t necessarily align with who you are or what you are called to do in the Kingdom? Just because you are a capable person does not mean that you should have your hand in everything. The truth is, we are all capable of a lot. God made us complex and wove into our being many strengths and talents. However our priority should always be to seek the Lord, discover His will for our lives, and do all we possibly can to align ourselves to it.
It's so important that we spend time in prayer and seeking God about "what's next". Jesus often withdrew Himself to spend time in prayer and solitude with His Father. Not only did Jesus receive strength and power in these times of prayer, but He also received instruction from His father on where to go and what to do next.
In closing, let's meditate on these verses and look to Jesus, our ultimate example!
“Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.”
“And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.”
“Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.”
Praying for you!
Lydia