The topic of alignment has been on my mind for quite some time and I wanted to share some of the insights that I have gained from my time of reflection and devotion as a way to align my dreams and my projects with God’s purpose for my life. Alignment speaks truthfully to taking a path of least resistance to achieve maximum efficiency. We see it in various disciplines such as physics, spirituality, or engineering, and it serves to recalibrate and build up efficiency and harmony in our lives.

Now, why did I feel the need to bring up this specific topic? It is mainly because I have been building this business that I love so much and talk about so often, but I have also realized there were a lot of closed doors along the way that just didn’t make sense to me. There was a lot of built-up resentment I had toward God, anger and frustration I just couldn’t shake. I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t able to move in the direction of my dreams the way I wanted, but I had realized I had started this whole journey with the wrong mindset.

I wasn’t moving in grace and while I was building something that I love, I still was operating out of fear, I feel like I might be confusing you a little, but bear with me. I almost felt like I entered this business with a fear of failure. So, instead of doing everything to succeed, I was doing everything not to fail. Does that make sense? Within that awkward space, I felt God calling me to seek Him more, to seek a greater understanding of who He is and learn His character. I think that is such an important part of the journey. Sometimes, depending on your religion or what you were taught in church, there is an erroneous understanding of God.

But God reveals Himself to us personally, there is a demand on our time and hearts to seek Him fully and be devoted to Him. With that comes a weird dance of letting go of the old and embracing the new. Within that weird dance come all our frustrations, hurts, anger, and bitterness whatever we haven’t fully processed. Some of us never learned how to enter God’s presence with our true feelings. There was always an assumption that you had to come in clean, proper, and polished, almost hiding what you really feel.

Within that revelation, I felt God telling me to do the work, I have shared in a few of my episodes about my personal healing journey. Beyond that, I realized I was operating under a faulty understanding, the idea that the more I do, the more God will bless me. In reality, God gives us the grace to do everything and provides for everything we need. I had been relying on my professional experience and all the degrees I accumulated over the years. But God was calling me to something deeper, He was calling me to know Him and run my business according to His ways and understanding.

Through that, He revealed not only the healing I needed but also introduced me to my talents and the work I needed to do. So, here are a few key points I have learned along this journey, I hope you are taking notes and see if God might be leading you in a similar way:

1. God wants your heart, not your talents: since everything in our relationship with God flows from obedience, success will come once you become obedient and; to be quite honest real success is obeying God and doing what He has told us to do.

2. It is all grace: everything we have and everything we are able to do is given to us by grace. It is not by might, not by power, it is by God’s grace. Learn the rhythms of grace and live unburdened by the chaos around you. We live in times of uncertainty, if you don’t let God’s grace bring peace and rest, you will find yourself stuck in uneasiness, frustration, and a constant state of fear.

3. Build spiritual awareness and discernment: be aware of the lies creeping into your mind and heart. In seasons when nothing makes sense, it is easy to believe the lie that God doesn’t love us or that there is some unforgivable sin in our past. But once we ask for forgiveness, God forgives completely He is not petty, He says He has removed our sins from us so don’t dwell on lies that don’t align with God’s Word. Check your heart and mind to make sure your thoughts and feelings align with what God says about you.

4. Storms and trials are necessary: suffering purifies us and builds our faith, we are being sanctified because we have to live lives that mirrors of our Lord Jesus. Just as Jesus endured suffering, we are called to endure suffering as well. There is no other way to develop great character, a beautiful heart, or a sound mind without going through trials. When attacks and tribulations come, know that God is still with you, building you, so as you feel isolated in this moment, don’t try to make sense of it; just stay close to God and let him teach you what he wants you to learn this season.

5. It is bigger than you: the challenges you face aren’t just about you; they are about the legacy you are building for those who come after you because God is a generational God. You might just look at yourself and be like I am just a small business owner, why does it feel like I am always attacked on every front? You have to understand that when you are breaking generational curses and they come in different forms the kingdom of darkness has to come at you. If we look at it from a war perspective, you are taking territory from the devil by aligning yourself with God’s truth. You are inspiring so many people to live for him and because you are doing that the devil is going to come at you with everything that he has and for some of you it has been really heart wrenching but understand that you are building for the next generation. This is way bigger than you don’t just look at it as something that is randomly happening to you. There are more generations coming after you and you are doing the Lord’s work by standing in prayer and in alignment with what he wants to do in your life.

6. Move in the flow of the Holy Spirit: lean not on your own understanding trust that God has everything figured out for you and in due time, He will let you know what He wants you to do. So this is where you enter his rest and you let Him lend you his understanding and his wisdom so that you can create and express yourself the right way so that you can build services, products and what have you in a way that is aligned with what he has to put on your heart.

7. Discernment and divine positioning: God is strategic in how He positions us, every closed door, delay, or detour is part of His divine plan. Sometimes, He isolates us to prepare us for the next season. Those wilderness experience, dry spells are often the moments He uses to shape us. Don’t overthink it, just stay close to God and let Him teach you what He wants during those times. He has created us with our gifts and our talents and to each of us. He requires that we use them for the glory of his name. God is going to position you He requires you to build the spirit of discernment. So build a relationship with God that seeks him daily read his word. That is where He speaks and seek to understand what He is telling you, seek His kingdom above all else because His promises are yes and amen. They will come to pass, it is just a matter of time. Make sure that you are acquainted with his word and what He wants to do through you. He has a specific purpose for you. So you have to the only way to find it is by having your own personal revelation and God does not reveal himself in noisy places. So when you feel like He has isolated you when you feel like some opportunities have passed you by it was actually a time that He wanted to speak to your heart and take care of some of the things that might harm you in the long in the long run. So trust Him trust, ask Him to reveal Himself to you daily so that He can give you the spirit of discernment that you need to navigate these uncertain times.

8. Surrender your dreams and enter His rest: stop striving, trust that God has everything figured out and will reveal what you need to know in due time. Surrender your dreams to Him and allow Him to guide your steps. He has given each of us gifts and talents for His glory. Trust that the treasure He has placed in your heart will come to fruition in His perfect timing. Finally, always keep an eternal perspective, as much as you love your business or want to build wealth, none of it will go with you into eternity. The only thing that lasts is your relationship with God. He is the ultimate reward, He is the dream, the journey, and the destination. Delight yourself in Him, and trust that everything else will align in His perfect time. We will take into Eternity except our heart and our relationship with God. So if your relationship with him is great, then you have everything that you need. He told Abraham that He is His great reward and He is ours too. He will reward us at the end of the day, this is not the end. It doesn’t matter how it looks like so delight yourself in him.

I hope that what I shared has given you a bit of perspective for your hard times, please share your journey below, where do you see God leading you beyond this pain?

Xo,

Ange