ALIGNMENT – Why We Are Worn Out, in Pain and Off Course By Mark and Nicki Pfeifer

You and your car have something in common - you both need alignment! When your car is out of alignment, bad things happen • Parts get worn out • It’s hard to stay on course • You can’t get up to speed.

 Sound familiar? I don’t mean your car… …I mean YOU!

 Your spine is the same way! When it is out of alignment, you can develop pain in strange places. You lose your strength.  You get tired and grumpy.

Yep!  That’s you alright! 😁

This is because cars and spines were created to be in alignment.  When they are, good things happen.  When they are not, things get warn out, it’s hard to stay on course, you can’t get up to speed, you develop pain, you lose your strength, and you get tired and grumpy.

 Sometimes it seems like we are dealing with a multitude of problems when, in fact, they are all related to one single source – we’re out of alignment.

 Alignment happens in three basic areas – in our PERSON, in our ASSIGNMENT, and in our ORGANIZATION. 

 FIRST, WE ALIGN OUR PERSON

To be aligned in our PERSON means we maintain something described in the story of the Prodigal Son. It says in Luke 15:17 that “he came to himself.”

 Notice that there are two people described in that phrase – HE and HIMSELF.  There are at least two people inside all of us.  There is the person we are internally (the person we are aware of) and the person we portray to others (the person we want others to see).

 The inner you – the real you – is the HIMSELF in this verse. 

 The portrayed you – your image, persona, projected self – is the HE in this verse.

“He came to himself” describes a personal alignment where we become genuine, transparent, honest, and real.  Who we project ourselves as being on the outside aligns with who we are on the inside.  We stop pretending and start living an authentic life. 

 I think this is why confession of sin, repentance, and humility in baptism are some of the first works of Christianity.  It helps align us internally and externally. 

 ✔️ Duplicity starts to disappear. 

✔️ We stop pretending as much. 

 ✔️ Hypocrisy has a hard time existing in such an environment. 

 ✔️ We become more at peace with ourselves.

 ✔️ We worry less what others think about us…

 …IF we are truly sincere in our pursuits to be personally aligned.

 SECOND, WE ALIGN OUR ASSIGNMENT

 Even a person who is aligned in their person needs to be aligned in their God-given assignment.  If their life isn’t aligned with heaven’s purposes, the same negative results will happen.

 Take Paul for instance.  Heaven’s assignment for him was to be an apostle to the Gentiles. When he was persecuting the church, Jesus confronted him on the Road to Damascus and aligned him.

 Paul experienced a chiropractic adjustment of sorts!

 Among his first words to Christ in Acts 9:6 was, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” From there, Paul’s life was put on course, having been aligned with heaven’s purposes. 

 This story stands in stark contrast to another man’s inquiry of the same nature.  In Matthew 19:16 the Rich, Young Ruler asked Jesus the same question, “What shall I do…”  But instead of aligning his life with heaven’s assignment, he “went away sorrowful (V-22)”, unwilling to make the necessary adjustments.

 THIRD, WE ALIGN OUR ORGANIZATIONS

 Most people have more than one organization for which they are responsible.

The first and most important organization in life is our home/marriage/family.  To run a home properly, a person must align that home with its purpose of being a safe place of refuge, peace, and rest.

 When married, couples must be aligned themselves as husband and wife to maximize their partnership in achieving the goals of creating a family that expresses what God intended when He originally created Adam and Eve in the garden. 

But there are also organizational alignments outside the home.

 Ecclesiastes 5 and Proverbs 31 describe how men and women create occupations for themselves in ways that align with heaven’s purposes for mankind.  These organizations are businesses that help bless others as they serve their customers and create jobs for their employees.

 Besides the homes and businesses, the church also must be aligned.  Perhaps one reason why so many people get warn out and hurt in the modern church system is because we are not aligned with heaven’s blueprint – the Bible!

 Today’s modern church seems to be more aligned with the world’s system of entertainment than with the Bible.  It seems we value talent over character, performance over substance, and production over piety.

 Being aligned with the world’s system has allowed the same sins that plague the entertainment industry into the church.  Today, we have an epidemic of egotism and immorality among our celebrity leaders that continues to put the church in a bad light.

 The Bible makes it clear that to be aligned with heaven is to create doctrinal and governmental structures according to the pattern in scripture.  This is what God told Moses in Exodus 25:40 when He gave instructions on how to build an earthly tabernacle that was aligned with heaven’s pattern…

“And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.”

 So, if you’re feeling warn out, off course, not up to speed, in pain, weak, tired, and grumpy, check your alignment!

 The Bible is the blueprint.

© 2024 Mark and Nicki Pfeifer