Align and Shine

One good thing about #WFH life is that it gives great opportunities to stop and pray. Of course, you can do this even in the office. But one of my favorite ways to pray is to stop, get on the ground, and talk to God. It helps me shut out all distractions. It’s also really humbling to get on your knees, close your eyes, and talk to your Creator.

The Lord has been showing me areas of my life where I haven’t fully surrendered. I’ve been struck by how often I’ve given “Not my will, but Yours be done” lip service. I really thought I was believing it, but my heart wasn’t fully there. And as I was having one of these heart-to-hearts with God, I blurted out: “God, I just want to make you proud. Even before I ask anything, I just want to make you proud. Help me do that.”

I felt the peace that goes beyond our human understanding, that Philippians 4:6 promises. The Holy Spirit whispered to my heart, “I am proud of you.” And it hit me that God has never been proud of us because of our accomplishments alone.

Remember when we were in elementary school and made all sorts of arts and crafts, either thinking we were the next Van Gogh (with both of our ears) or the next Gordon Ramsey (just eating glue or hard, dried beans)? We were so proud of our creations – not because we were prodigies, but simply because we made them. We put so much work into them and had fun personalizing and customizing them to be unique. It didn’t matter whether they would win awards or whatever accolades that students get. We were just proud of our creations.

God reminded me that this is a reflection of His own heart towards us. He is so proud of His creation, not because of what we do, but because we are His. He carefully made each of us, with all our complexities, personalities, and unique callings and talents. And the most beautiful part of all is that He made us to reflect Him, the God of the universe. That makes us beautiful in itself. But the heart that aligns with God’s reflects Him best of all.

I’ve decided that I don’t want my #1 goal to be getting more fit, being more organized, or achieving a professional milestone. These are fine goals to have, but most of all, I want to keep my relationship with God first. I want my heart to align with His as closely as possible every day so I can reflect Him most of all. Everything else will fall into place, too – God is really good at making that happen.