If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. (Luke 9:23-24 NKJV)
Have you ever prayed and asked that God would give you a word for the next year? In 2019 the word I received was “buckle,” which seemed a strange answer, until I thought about buckling up in a vehicle. Looking back, “buckle up” might have been the best advice we could have had for 2020. It’s been quite a ride.
Thankfully, 2026 is a new year and I keep hearing a new word: alignment.
When I looked it up online, I found this definition: “Alignment is the state of being brought into proper order, position, or agreement so that something functions as it was intended to function.”
Your car tires have to be aligned so they work well together and don’t wear unnecessarily.
Teeth on a gear set have to be aligned or the gears won’t turn correctly.
The vertebrae in your spine and the teeth in your jaw all have to be aligned for your body to function properly and without pain.
A door hinge has to be aligned properly or the door will rub the frame or squeak.
If something physical, spiritual, or emotional is aligned properly, it’s lined up the way it was created to be, its parts are working collaboratively, and the directions and actions it takes are coherent and unified. Without proper alignment, it may still be able to move, but likely with friction, strain, inefficiency, or damage over time.
Spiritual alignment brings our hearts, minds, choices, and actions into agreement with God’s heart, truth, wills and ways. When we are aligned with God, we live in harmony with, not resistance, to the One who created and rules over the universe. God’s call for us to align ourselves with him is seen in verses like,
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV)
We see Jesus as the best example of perfect alignment when he surrendered to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane: Your will must be done, not mine. (Luke 22:42 GW)
When we think about walking with God (Psalm 84:11), remaining or abiding in the Father (John 15:4), submitting to and obeying the perfect will of God (Deuteronomy 11:13, James 4:7), or following the Lord Jesus Christ under the leadership of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 16:24, John 16:13), we are thinking about various aspects of alignment. As humans, we should never expect that being aligned with God means we have everything figured out or that we will never struggle, doubt, or suffer. In fact, I am not sure it is even possible for us to be perfectly aligned with God. However, when we come to him with humility, confession, repentance, and a sincere desire to honor, worship, and serve him, I believe he helps us correct our course, reorder our priorities, and heal what has become misdirected.
Alignment is not usually a one-time event that fixes everything. At times, God does bring about a profound, sudden change within a person that brings their life into general alignment with his will. More often, however, alignment happens gradually. God gently and graciously invites us into continual surrender, where little by little he aligns one area of our lives, then another, and then another. As we consistently seek him, surrender to his leading, and allow him to do this work within us, we find ourselves increasingly aligned with him and less likely to drift away from his perfect plans and purposes.
There are many ways in which humans can be aligned with God, but today let us focus on having our minds, hearts, and spirits aligned with the perfect God of the universe. It is his loving heart that draws us into true alignment. May our direction, decisions, and desires fully reflect and match God’s perfect design.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
As we move through these first weeks of 2026, we ask that you would help us humbly align ourselves with your perfect will for our lives. Bring us into proper order, position, and agreement so that we may function as we were created to function—physically, emotionally, relationally, mentally, and spiritually. Draw our hearts toward your heart of love, so that we may truly declare that we desire your will, not our own. Help us to trust you with all our hearts, leaning not on our own understanding, but acknowledging you in all we do. As we remain aligned with you throughout 2026, keep us on straight paths for the purposes of your Kingdom. We ask these things for the glory of your name. AMEN.