26.08 | Alignment
Acts 19:21-20:6
‘Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”'
Acts 19:21
I once drove a thousand miles with broken steering.
I’d noticed the problem a couple of days before we left for southern France. The car was pulling slightly to the right.
It was subtle enough that it didn’t strike me as an emergency, but, what was a subtle problem on short trips around Birmingham, became a more noticeable issue as we made our way south. Every straight road needed constant, slight pressure on the wheel, fighting the ever-present drag rightwards. I amused myself looking for the perfect road—a slow arc to the right, where I could relax my grip (I found it eventually near Coventry on the drive home).
The problem, it turned out, was that our car wheels had been knocked when parked on our street (common collateral from living on a tightly lined street of terraced housing). This had bent metal in the steering mechanism, meaning the wheels were not all pointing in the same direction.
The issue was one of alignment.
We have a phrase for Paul today, that strikes me.
Paul resolved in the Spirit.
Paul resolved.
In the Spirit.
There was a meeting of the resolve of Paul, and the Spirit of God. Both were pointing the same way. Both were going to Macedonia.
There was alignment.
A few chapters back, Paul also went to Macedonia, and yet, this time, it was preceded by him considering two other trips (Asia and Bithynia), both opposed by the Spirit of God.1 And then, prompted by a dream, they went to Macedonia.
Growth in the Way of Jesus is a journey into increasing alignment with the Spirit. It is the joining of our plans and purposes with the way and will of God. It is the gradual abdication of our agenda and strategies and expectations in a turn into the gradual surrender to His plans, purposes, and dreams. It is the turning away from Asia and Bithynia, until our resolve meets the will of the Spirit. It is the transformation into both wanting and acting in accord with the purposes of God.2
The journey isn’t a simple or a quick one. It is a process of lifelong surrender, willing vulnerability, deepening trust, and growing discernment. It is a process that has deepened in Paul in these three chapters, and it is a journey that deepens in us as we travel the Jesus road.
Often our fears here speak loudly. They speak of our distrust of the Father’s will—the worry that He will lead us to something that is not good (or is a kind of religious ideal of ‘good’ that we really don’t actually want). They speak of our worry that we won’t be able to discern His voice when we need it, falling off the tightrope of God’s will into an abyss of catastrophes.
And yet, the journey into realignment is the essence of Christian transformation. It is the process by which our hearts become courageous and creative, peaceful and kind. It is the process that the ancients have called union—perfect joining of our will and way to the person and ways of God.
How does alignment happen? It happens through a million little choices—in our daily practices and decisions and habits. It grows a little every time we learn to rest in the face of pressure to overwork, and every time we sing in times of struggle, and every time we give when we feel stingy, abandon our ideologies in favour of a Scriptural insight, or pray ‘Your will be done.’ It happens as we learn—in the myriad baby steps of the Christian way—to trust the still small voice, learning in the little obediences, the times we get it wrong, and those remarkable moments when we follow His prompting and find ourselves as surprised participants in the activity of God.
Fear not, child of God. The Father is as kind as He is mighty. He heals us as greatly as He challenges us. And He is inviting us to nothing less that extraordinary intimacy of perfect alignment.
Reflect:
Remember, this is baby steps.
What do you think the Spirit may be leading you towards in this moment?
Join your resolve with His. And give Him your simple Yes for today.
Pray:
Spirit of God,
Those who are born of you,
Do not know where they are going;3
I find that a little scary.
I worry that your lead may be more costly than I can handle;
Or more unseen than I’d hoped;
Or that, maybe, you have simply overlooked me in your purposes,
Finding others better suited to your purposes.
And yet, Spirit of the living God,
I align today under the surety of my call—
Chosen and appointed by the Lord—
Unto participation in the purposes of God.
And thus,
Spirit of God,
Lead me:
Lead me in the mighty things,
And in the small things;
Lead me in the things that demand great courage,
And those that require simple faithfulness;
Lead me in the matters of transformation of the world,
And those of the transformation of me.
And as I journey this path,
Spirit of God,
Align me:
To the heart of the Father,
To the vision of the Son,
And to the footsteps of you, Holy Spirit—
For the cause and in the Name of Jesus,
Amen
Old Testament:
For those also reading the Old Testament this year, your additional readings are here:
Job 11-14 | Psalm 104:1-23
Acts 16:6-10
Philippians 2:13
John 3:8