The Doctrine of "Alignment"

 That's what I'm calling it. If you have another term for it, please share it in the comment section.

Was it this past weekend? If it wasn't, then it was likely sometime last week. I was scrolling through my feed on Facebook - which I don't frequent, and saw a video by an old mate of mine. For some reason which I can't explain because I usually don't bother with such things, I unmuted it. The videos show up muted so I usually don't hear what's on it. When I unmuted it, the person was saying something that went something like this: '~you must bring yourself into alignment for God to...."

I immediately got out of there. I really haven't figured out what the purpose of their video was. it seems they started a real estate company but what I heard was preaching. Granted I heard something like 'most people think...' and if memory serves me right, they were saying something along the lines of people think it will just happen if God has purposed for something and that one needs to align themselves....

Well, I didn't think much of it. Today however, I was catching up with a few things and saw something elsewhere on another platform where a person said something about "alignment with God's will". Of course it reminded me of what I saw from the other person's video and I had to ask: where did this theory come from?

I mean which part of the Bible stipulates that one must align themselves with whatever before God can do something. Are we saying the power of God is limited and is rather dependent on man's actions? How? Isn't God omnipotent? Can He who made the sun stand still and ordered the stars in the galaxy also not order whatever needs to be ordered in your life? David said 

 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

Psalm 119:133 KJV

 If the arrangement God has made in the Universe isn't clearly visible, David's statement here indicates that he knows God is capable of ordering his steps according to his word. 

The issue have with this Doctrine of "Alignment" is that it posits things I don't see the veracity of. First, It posits the dependence on man. That for God to do something, it is dependent on man so that if man doesn't align themselves to whatever, it cannot be. Now that I write that, I recall many years ago, someone using the story of Ruth being in the field to say that one must "position" themselves in a certain way for something to happen. 

Isn't it interesting when one takes one incident in the Bible and extrapolates from it a whole doctrine based on that? Moses was out watching his father-in-law's sheep when the law appeared to him. I'm confident he was not working to align himself with anything. As a matter of fact, he had every excuse for God to not go to Egypt. Gideon was going about his business when the angel appeared to him. David was in the field when Samuel showed up. Saul was looking for lost sheep when he ended up going to Samuel. These people were not told to align themselves with anything for God to move in their lives. If that is the case, I'm confident Jonah would do everything to not align so that he wouldn't be called to go to Nineveh. It is not dependent on man but on God. Ha, that statement reminds me of something Paul said. Let me go look for it:

So then God’s choice is not dependent on human will, nor on human effort [the totality of human striving], but on God who shows mercy [to whomever He chooses—it is His sovereign gift].

Romans 9:16 AMP

Which then brings me to the second issue: Man's effort. As if Psalm 46:10 doesn't remind us to "“Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”" it elevates man's efforts. It posits that God's ability is dependent on man's effort. Again, isn't God omnipotent? Do you really believe that Almighty God is limited by anything? I mean look at Moses: he murdered, twice and that didn't limit God when it came to using him for his purpose. In fact, the Bible shows up in countless ways that God isn't limited by anything. He wasn't limited by the Red Sea or any other obstacle. If it were dependent on man's effort, Gideon would need more than the 300 men he had (Judges 7). Yet, God has demonstrated time and again that he is not limited by anything. Yet, this whole assertion of one needing to align themselves puts a huge burden on man by making him think that he needs to do something for God to act and if nothing is showing up, it's all his fault. 

Don't get me wrong; I'm not advocating for laziness here. The initial command was to be fruitful and multiply. We are told to bear fruit and instances in the Gospels where there is talk about something being cut down and burned, it tends to involve unfruitfulness.  What I'm talking about is the assertion that if God has purposed something in a person's life, it is dependent on the person to align themselves with God's will, purpose or whatever else they advocating aligning oneself with, in order for the thing to happen. Two things I'd like to understand better here: God does not always make some things known:

Deuteronomy 29:29

[29] “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. (ESV) 

Romans 11:33

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 

What God wants us to know, He has made it known in his word and we are to walk in obedience to God's word. In this case however, people are talking about the future and what is to happen. How is one to know so they can align themselves? How was Moses to know that he would one day go back to Egypt? Does it sound like David knew he was going to be king? Yet, we look at these men and we see that what they did before somehow prepared them for their work when God called them. David had killed a bear and a lion while shepherding. Moses was also a shepherd. Trust the invisible hand of God to work in your life and direct it. God is very capable and able. Joseph knew what lied ahead of him and yet,  he couldn't align himself because he was sold by his brothers and then ended up in Jail. Clearly, it was not dependent on Joseph to make it happen because I don't think anyone of us would choose slavery and jail. Yet, We see that God worked in those circumstances. It didn't matter that his brother's sold him. We find Joseph second in command in Potiphar's house and we see it again in while he's in prison. As Paul reminds us: it is not dependent on man. Salvation has never been a thing of works but God's grace. 

The other thing I don't get is how does one align themselves? I keep hearing people say "align" but they don't tell you how; just that you must do it. Says which chapter in the Bible? Which of The Ten Commandments say "thou must align..." because these people tend to use the word "must", like it's an imperative. 

Again, in light of Deuteronomy 29:29, how is one to know what God hasn't made known to them? Before you say "pray", take a look at this

When she came to the mountain to the man of God, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi approached to push her away; but the man of God said, “Let her alone, for her soul is desperate and troubled within her; and the Lord has hidden the reason from me and has not told me.”

2 Kings 4:7 AMP 

God can choose what he wills to make known to us. Here we have Elisha stating that God hasn't made known something to him. Are you telling people to demand that God shows them their future so that they can "work" and "align themselves" to make it happen? Do you not trust God to make it happen? Are  you walking by faith? The faith in God that trusts that what He has purposed, he is able to orchestrate things to make it be? No, I'm not saying that you sit at home and not move a finger because if God has purposed something in your life, it will fall on your lap. None of those men in the Bible weren't sitting at home twaddling their thumbs waiting for something to happen. As I mentioned, Moses and David were in the field. Elisha was minding his own business also. Trust that as you go about your life, God is working in you to will and to do according to his purpose (Philippians 2:13). Have faith in God. Have you looked at times when something came to mind and you acted accordingly and were glad you did? 

Finally, this doctrine posits that God is limited. That's the part that bugged me. God is not limited by anything. I could quote multiple scriptures but the Bible is practically littered with instances of God's omnipotence and miracles so I ask that you show me a time when God was limited by circumstances?

Earlier this year, a person expressed in a text message that he was praying for his stars to align so that.... To sum it up, he stated at a later time that he was broke. He is not a Christian and I wasn't going to ask what stars? who or what is he praying to? and how that alignment affects his choices. I'm wondering if this "doctrine" was pulled out of some other religion and adapted to Christianity? I don't know; I'm simply wondering. It is people who do not know the LORD who are dependent on stars and whatever aligning . We know the the LORD God Almighty is sovereign and can do do all things. 

As I asked in the beginning: where did this come from? I do not know. What I have found is that Monkey see, Monkey do, Monkey teach tends to sometimes come out as Monkey hear, Monkey say, Monkey teach. One hears it from another and repeats it and the other repeats and teaches it and soon, we have something many have heard and believed to be true when it's not. Faith comes by hearing; what are  your hearing?  

To demonstrate how what we hear affects us, I was doing a exercise this morning where I simply write answers to a prompt that comes to mind and at towards the end, one of my responses was something about "alignment with my values". I smiled because I realized by seeing it moments earlier and wondering about it, the word had somehow found it's way into my vocabulary😆.  The Bible tells us in Proverbs 4:23 to guard our hearts. What are you letting in? Do you think it won't flow out somehow in your speech, thoughts or actions? 

My encouragement to you is to read your bible instead of listening to the regurgitations from people what sounds like scripture but is simply man's opinion. Feed your soul with the word of God. Some of the things flying around as "doctrine" are simply that - man's opinion.  It's no different than the warning in Jeremiah that says the people speak visions from their own minds. Neither is it much different from what Paul warns in Colossians 2:8. Read the Bible for yourself; God has made it available for you so that you can know and walk in obedience to what He's told us in the written word. Doctrines abound but God's word is true. If there is something that needs to align, the God who David asked to order his steps is also capable of aligning whatever needs to be aligned in your life just as he ordered the stars in the galaxy.  On that note, I'll end with the two scriptures in this paragraph:

Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Do not listen to the words of the [false] prophets who prophesy to you. They are teaching you worthless things and are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own mind and imagination And not [truth] from the mouth of the Lord.

Jeremiah 23: 16 AMP

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception [pseudo-intellectual babble], according to the tradition [and musings] of mere men, following the elementary principles of this world, rather than following [the truth—the teachings of] Christ.

Colossians 2:8 AMP