Are we aligned with God?

My brother Loren sent me this today: He mentioned a teacher who had said about our daily activities and decisions we make: “God has a part and you have a part. We cannot do God's part and God will NOT do our part. But God will help us do our part."

Then he added:

 Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."  Loren added, “This does NOT mean He gives us what we want. It means He will align us to HIS will. He waits for us as He guides us until we are ready to yield ourselves to Him. Then His ways and thoughts eventually become ours in every matter as our desires become aligned with His desires for us. (See also Rom 8:28 - called for HIS purpose)

“He will align us to HIS will”. That’s a very deep statement, folks.  It’s full of meaning and rich in nuances to see what He is all about, and what our lives are truly all about.

I agree.  Click on “Continue reading” to finish this short blog.

Too often we ask our God to answer our prayers, our wishes, our hopes, the way WE see things – instead of constantly asking what HIS will is for each of us in every facet of our lives. We know what WE want. So we tell the Supreme Ruler of the universe what we want and beg him to let us have our wants.  I think many of us do that, lots of times.

But our Father sees the tapestry of lives he is working with – and how they will all come together to his glory, according to his plan.  We don’t see as he sees.  So we wonder, “Where are you Father?” when times get rough – instead of praising him even in the storm, as the song goes. (Google “Praise You in this Storm”, by Casting Crowns).  If we could feel our Father’s heart more, we would burst out in praise and song and deep worship - - even when things aren’t panning out like we wanted and hoped for – and expected.  If we were aligned with our Father and Savior, we would raise our hands in worship as we pray. We would do as the 24 elders before his throne do as they cast their crowns before him, and then lie prostrate before him in awe and worship (Revelation 4:9-11).

We’re appreciating that He is whom He is. He is love. We don’t always frankly feel some of the things he allows or does in our lives are expressions of love. Let’s be honest. But they are. Once we align ourselves with him, God’s actions become clearer.

Sometimes God lets us go through suffering or even severe testing-- to teach us lessons, or teach us empathy for others.  When you’ve gone through serious troubles and trials, absolutely we can commiserate and understand others and pray for meaningfully for them.  It all helps us align with our God. (2 Cor 1:3-4).

He also allows things to happen other than what we were asking - - to help drive us to our knees in prayer as we seek HIM more.  I know for a fact that I pray harder, longer and more fervently when I’m suffering through something – whether it be pain, financial hardship, need for healing – for myself or others I love deeply.  Once again, it’s about aligning our lives with him, HIS heart, his mind, his ways.

So in this process of aligning ourselves, let’s apply what Paul teaches us in Philippians 4:6-8 – that yes, we are to let God know what our fears and concerns are, and then THANK him for letting us go through these things with his FULL awareness, and then the old saying, “Let go, and let God”. 

Philippians 4:6-8 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

The key to experiencing the peace of God, I feel, is to make our prayer with thanksgiving. To thank God in and for all things!  He certainly is aware of everything we’re going through. He’s  IN US by His spirit and we’re in HIM, so he feels and knows every thought and circumstance we’re experiencing. 

I’m just writing as things pour from my heart. I won’t be editing this, as we must finish being ready for the Hurricane. Yes, I live in Florida, you see.

My brother gives away little arm bands or bracelets that say “God’s got this”.  I have one on my wrist even now.  You see, as I write this, we’re about to come face to face with Hurricane Irma —the biggest, baddest, storm the world has ever seen since NASA tracking started, at least unless our Father and our Saviour change all the predictions.  He’s done that before, and he can do it again.  If he doesn’t, then he has a great purpose in mind, and we submit to his will, his actions and the consequences of all those decisions he makes.  That’s also part of aligning with him.

In stormy or sunny days, it’s a constant process of aligning to his will. And then praise and give thanks, even in the storm.  Oh, it’s easy to praise when the storm moves out of harm’s way, like it did for us last year.  God may be testing us now to see if we can still bow and praise in the storm.  I hope he doesn’t test us that way, frankly. As a mere mortal, I hope not.  But if that is what some of us need to be aligned with Him, then at the end, no matter what waves roll over our lives, we must learn to sing “It is well with my soul”.  But we must learn to sing it with the meaningful words bursting from our hearts, not just boringly in church, unaware of the richness of the words we’re singing. 

And then we praise him, yes, even in the storm, before and during the storm.  Especially in the storm.  As Irma races up to our home, I’m rushing this to be sure I can send it to my webmaster before our power is lost. And I must go and praise him again for WHO He is.  I don’t need to know how he’s going to resolve this Irma storm. I don’t need to know where or when or what He’s doing. I just need to know WHO.  Who is it who leads me, loves me? WHO is it who sent his own Son for me. WHO is it who will work everything out for good? It is our God. Let’s align with him.

Who knows, if He allows it, we could be facing a badly damaged home, with roof torn off, and trees down, and water in the house? Yes. I have to accept that possibility. That’s not a lack of faith. It’s realizing that he does let his children go through the storms of life all too often. There’ve been too many deaths of my loved ones and trials we’ve been through to think otherwise.  If his will is to test us with the trial of a hurricane blowing near our home, pray with me that we – and all who will face this – will pass his test, as we align with his will.

Or, he can make Irma just change course again and fizzle out some place without all the death and destruction that has been forecast. I got an Emergency Alert screaming at me at 5 a.m. that “there is now an official Hurricane warning in your area!!  Life threatening winds are approaching….” And it went on with more dire statements from there.  Our God can change all that – even still!  If he does, great. If he doesn’t, as long as he is with me, great.

My wife says, “Remember, Yeshua (Jesus) is in our boat. He’s aware of the storm.”

Our God knows the storms his children are facing. He knows you more intimately than you know yourself. Align with him.  If you still don’t know yet what that means, ask him to make it clear. But beware, the process can be painful. If gold or silver being refined could speak, do you think they’d like the fire and heat? But in the end, the gold bar is perfect. The silver’s dross is gone.  We’re the silver and gold being refined in the fire (See Isaiah 48:10;  Rev 3:18;  Psalm 66:10).  And now we’re better fit for the Master’s use.  If we get aligned with God.

Oh brethren, let your hearts burst out in song as we align with God’s will, as he puts us through His paces for us, as he purifies our hearts and minds through the furnace of affliction and testing. Sometimes the test he gives some of you is to see how we cope with ease and plenty and wealth.  It’s one of the hardest tests to pass, frankly.  It’s much harder to remain zealous and to be seeking him fervently when there’s no hardship!   You who are well off and at ease, beware you’re not slipping into the lukewarm Laodicean state of “I am rich and increased with goods and have become wealthy and in need of nothing”  (Revelation 3:14-22).  Our God says that lukewarm spirit wants to make him vomit!  Not good. That kind of self-satisfaction is not a life aligned with God.

I must go. I must go and praise and sing to my Maker even as we finish preparing what we can do in this storm.  I trust my Father knows we want him to watch over us – and we pray also for the many thousands of elderly, infirm, poor, homeless, and we just beg for his mercy. I’ll write a blog soon on how we must be people who love all people and pray for them.  After all, Yeshua himself did, from the cross – “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And so we bow and worship before him, yes, even in this storm. Especially in this storm.  May our hearts align with His. Amen and amen. And yes, please pray for all God’s children in harm’s way right now with Irma coming into Florida (Sept 2017).  Thank you, and we love you for praying for all of us.  But most of all, let’s use even this to help us – align with God’s thoughts and purposes.