What does the Bible say about alignment with God? What does it look like lived out? Read on for scriptures and thoughts on how we can get aligned in the most fulfilling way.
“Alignment” is a term you hear a lot at the beginning of the year. Mostly to do with our goals, our values, and our purpose. Sometimes it’s referred to when a set of circumstances comes together in a vague, mystical way, as in, “when the stars align”.
The definition of alignment is a group of objects, circumstances or people physically arranged in a straight line, OR unified together toward a common purpose. Take for instance, wheels, teeth, the elements of a machine, a group of people, or various perspectives. When things are in alignment, they work together, often making a process smoother or making something work as intended.
When it comes to alignment in our lives, we are working together with God in order to pursue his call and purpose. Like anything else, we can try to pursue our own purposes instead of God’s. But when we are not aligned with his will and his call, we’re not operating the way we were designed or intended.
Prefer listening over reading? Find this info and more in the Called Into Being podcast episode, Alignment with God.
What does the Bible say about alignment with God?
The Bible never actually uses the word “alignment”. It uses other words instead, but ones that point to the same conclusion: that it is up to us to align with God’s will, not the other way around.
Aligning with God means we find our greatest joy and pleasure in him.
In Genesis 15, God tells Abram, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
Psalm 37:4 NIV says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
In both these verses, God himself is our end goal, the reward we seek. The promise in Psalm tells us that when we find our greatest pleasure in the Lord, we’ll get what we pursue and love the most: him!
I used to believe that delighting in God meant giving up what I really wanted for a mediocre substitute. No! We are never downgraded with God. Whatever we set aside for him, he replaces with more than we can imagine. (See Matthew 19:29.) He is the God of multiplication and abundance. We are simply giving up the world’s cheap imitation of rewards and abundance.
Aligning with God means submitting to his wisdom, instead of trying to invent our own.
The Bible, and the Proverbs in particular, keep reminding us that true wisdom is found in God. Our worldly wisdom is another thing we have to lay down before him, in faith that what he has is greater than anything we can try to assemble on our own.
Proverbs 2:6 says, “Indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”
A similar verse is Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Talk about alignment with God!
There’s no doubt about it: surrender is scary. We want to hold tight to the way we understand life, the things and people around us, our dreams and plans.
But why build our foundation on uncertainty when we have a solid Rock to stand on? We can entrust our desires, hearts, understanding to an unchanging Father, and he will set us straight.
Aligning with God means always becoming more like Christ.
Two verses in Romans tell us about how we are still in process.
Romans 8:29 says, God predestined us to “be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”
But then Romans 12:1-2 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Both talk about how we conform – either becoming more like Jesus or more like the world.
You might say it is our life’s work (our “true and proper worship”) to constantly pivot back to him, letting his purpose and plan shape us, and not trying to shape God or the circumstances he laid out for us according to OUR purposes and plans.
Aligning with God means playing our part in the body of Christ.
In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul makes the analogy of the Church as the body of Christ, with Christ as the head. Every individual part comes together, playing its part, to form a functional whole towards the same purpose.
If one part of the body becomes, say, too good for the rest of the parts, or wants to play a different role, or just feels unimportant and ducks out – we are not operating to full capacity, not living out the roles God arranged for us.
We work together to form a whole. It’s our purpose in Christ – and what a difference it makes when we all fulfill our roles!
Aligning with God means we look to Jesus.
Jesus set the example of alignment with God. Even as the Son of God, equal to God. He set aside his rights, humbled himself, and became obedient, as Philippians 2 points out. (I always love how God never asks us to do anything he didn’t do first.)
We see Jesus’s example throughout the Gospels, and especially in Matthew 26: “Not as I will, but as you will.” “Your will be done.”
This isn’t something we do alone. We have a perfect example, and we conform to his image.
Alignment with God looks like delight. Surrender. Submission. Humility. Obedience. Conforming to Christ. Playing your part in the Church.
One last thing: Aligning with God is a PRACTICE not a PRESSURE.
Thankfully, because of Jesus, we are not expected to perform perfectly for God. Jesus took on perfection for us. God’s plans and will are perfect. We don’t have to be.
Embrace grace in this journey. You won’t always be fully in tune with God’s plan and purpose; you won’t always make the “right” choices. You’ll most definitely make mistakes.
Yet God still holds his arms out wide to you. Keep turning back to him.
You can listen in on the Called Into Being podcast for the whole episode on alignment.
Photo Credit:
1 – Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash
2 – Dave Hoefler on Unsplash
3 – Joris Visser on Unsplash
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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