Divine alignment: Hearing God’s voice through life’s battles (2), By Ayo Akerele

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Alignment is not a moment; it is a lifelong journey of trust, surrender, and obedience. When we align with God’s will, even lives fiercest battles become tools of transformation… Divine alignment remains the greatest pathway to divine manifestation.

Marital Alignment and Discernment

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At times in life, we expect God to speak clearly, yet experience silence instead. Seasons marked by hardship, poverty, loss, emotional pain, or barrenness can produce confusion rather than clarity. When discernment is impaired, one may feel distant from God, even while seeking Him earnestly.

Marriage is one of the most critical areas where divine alignment is often misunderstood or neglected. Many believers assume that because a marriage began with prayer, alignment will always be automatic. Yet Scripture calls for continual submission to God’s design for marriage, even in difficulty.

Hebrews 13:4: “Marriage is honourable among all, and the bed undefiled.”

God has already revealed foundational principles governing marriage:

1. Believers are called to marry within faith (2 Corinthians 6:14);
2. ⁠Marriage is covenantal, not contractual (Malachi 2:16);
3. ⁠Husbands are called to loving leadership (Ephesians 5:23);
4. ⁠Wives are called to submit to their own husbands as unto the Lord–and where it is necessary to advance truth. Both husband and wife need to yield and submit to one another;
5. ⁠Both spouses are called to love, sacrifice, and faithfulness (Ephesians 5:22–26).

When marital conflict arises, believers often abandon spiritual alignment and adopt cultural, reactive responses. Emotional pain can cloud spiritual discernment, making it difficult to perceive what God is doing beneath the surface.

Some crises that deeply challenge discernment in marriage include:

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1. Infidelity;
2. ⁠Destructive external interference;
3. ⁠Abuse (particularly physical or emotional);
4. ⁠Legal or public escalation of conflict;
5. ⁠Persistent dishonour and disrespect.

In such moments, God may not speak in expected ways, but He is still present, and still active.

Often, difficult marital seasons are used by God to:

1. Teach humility and listening hearts (Genesis 21:12);
2. ⁠Deepen our understanding of Christlike love;
3. ⁠Draw us into deeper prayer and dependence;
4. ⁠Reveal hidden pride, fear, or selfishness;
5. ⁠Strengthen commitment to godly principles amid provocation;
6. ⁠Teach discernment between appearance and divine activity (Matthew 1:20–21).

Alignment does not mean denial of pain, nor does it justify abuse or injustice. Rather, it calls us to seek God with humility, wisdom, and obedience, even when clarity feels distant.

Provoking the Miraculous in Seasons of Impossibility

It was in my moment of brokenness that the Lord spoke to me with clarity and conviction:

“I have called you to be a teacher, to teach My people.”

My reaction was immediate resistance. “Me? A teacher? God forbid,” I protested. I prayed intensely, rebuked, resisted, and dismissed the thought. Yet, many believers struggle to hear God clearly, not because He is silent, but because they have not trained their spiritual senses through sustained engagement with His Word. It is in Scripture that the Father’s voice is most clearly discerned.

Despite my resistance, my financial situation worsened, to the point where I surrendered completely. In that place of surrender, I applied for a PhD programme. To my astonishment, I received three separate offers from universities in the United Kingdom. From that moment, everything began to change.

God guided me deliberately toward strengthening my teaching and writing abilities. Soon after, my teaching ministry emerged, suddenly, powerfully, and unmistakably. Around the same time, I was offered a research consulting position at University College London (UCL), then ranked among the world’s leading universities. This was followed by opportunities with Empire College London, Kingston College, and numerous other teaching, research, and consulting engagements.

Opportunities began to multiply rapidly, and financial provision followed naturally. What once felt impossible became evident: alignment with God’s purpose unlocks doors no human effort alone can open.

There are moments in every life when natural solutions are insufficient. Scripture calls these moments’ impossibilities, situations that demand divine intervention.

The Christian faith is inherently supernatural. Miracles are not anomalies; they are expressions of God’s kingdom.

1 Corinthians 4:20: “The kingdom of God is not in word but in power.”

Scripture is filled with impossible scenarios that were miraculously turned around by God.

1. The paralytic at the pool of Bethesda was miraculously healed (John 5);
2. ⁠The man born blind was miraculously healed (John 9);
3. ⁠Lazarus was miraculously raised back to life (John 11);
4. ⁠The woman with the issue of blood was miraculously healed (Mark 5);
5. ⁠Abraham and Sarah miraculously had Isaac (Genesis 21);
6. ⁠The Red Sea parted miraculously (Exodus 14).

Miracles often serve as God’s voice in moments of limitation.

Conditions That Foster the Miraculous

1. Salvation itself is the foundational miracle (2 Corinthians 5:17)
2. ⁠Faith that acts on God’s word (Matthew 17:20)
3. ⁠A spirit yielded to obedience
4. ⁠Love as faith’s operating environment (Galatians 5:6)
5. ⁠Prayerful dependence
6. ⁠God’s sovereign mercy

Miracles are not resisted by humility, but pride and passivity hinder expectation. While principles guide daily faithfulness, miracles often intervene where principles alone are insufficient.

Rising Through Kingdom Principles

Alignment with God is foundational for sustained spiritual fruitfulness. God is consistent, not arbitrary. Scripture reminds us:

Romans 2:11 – “God shows no partiality.”

Psalm 138:2 – “You have exalted Your word above Your name.”

Hannah’s story illustrates this truth. Her breakthrough did not come merely through distress, but through a moment of alignment, prayer, surrender, and trust.

True alignment involves:

1. Prayerful dependence;
2. ⁠Honesty before God;
3. ⁠Immersion in Scripture;
4. ⁠Obedience to revealed principles.

Grace does not eliminate principles; it empowers obedience.

So, here are the vital principles of this Kingdom that every believer must be aligned with. The voice of principles is already speaking clearly to many of us, yet we are often expecting God’s voice to come only through a dream, a vision, or a prophet. Principles speak. Principles guide. Principles make principals.

If we desire to walk fully in God’s purposes, or to experience the fullness of what He has promised, we must align our lives with these foundational Kingdom principles:

1. Prayer – James 5:16;
2. ⁠The will of God – Romans 12:1–2;
3. ⁠Honour – Proverbs 3:9 (honour the Lord); Matthew 15:4 (honour your father and mother);
4. ⁠Giving – Luke 6:38;
5. ⁠Service – Romans 12:11 (“not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord”);
6. ⁠Fellowship with other believers – Hebrews 10:25;
7. ⁠Holiness and purity – Hebrews 12:14;
8. ⁠Forgiveness – Ephesians 4:32 (“Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you”);
9. ⁠Mentorship and spiritual accountability – (Paul and Timothy; Elijah and Elisha; Moses and Joshua);
10. ⁠Marriage within the faith, between opposite genders.

Which of these principles have you neglected or violated, assuming that grace would compensate for disobedience? Scripture reminds us that grace does not excuse compromise; it trains us.

Titus 2:12: “For the grace of God… teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.” 

Restoring Broken Alignment

Alignment can be lost subtly. Scripture records examples of people who either momentarily or permanently lost their alignment with God’s will:

1. Saul lost it permanently as a result of his partial obedience to God’s instructions;
2. ⁠Jonah lost it temporarily when he directly disobeyed God;
3. ⁠Samson lost it almost permanently as a result of his moral compromise;
4. ⁠Abraham lost it temporarily when he went into Hagar as a result of pressure from his wife, Sarah;
5. ⁠Peter temporarily went back to his fishing business, losing alignment temporarily.

Yet restoration remains possible.

John 15:5: “Apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Alignment with God is not perfection; it is posture. A heart continually turning toward God remains open to restoration.

Divine alignment is the platform upon which divine manifestation rests. When alignment is restored, fruitfulness follows.

Final Reflection

Alignment is not a moment; it is a lifelong journey of trust, surrender, and obedience. When we align with God’s will, even lives fiercest battles become tools of transformation.

Divine alignment remains the greatest pathway to divine manifestation.

Ayo Akerele is the senior pastor of Rhema Assembly and the founder of the Voice of the Watchmen Ministries in Ontario, Canada. He can be reached through [email protected]. You can connect with him on: YouTube: @VoiceoftheWatchmen, TikTok: @drayoakerele, Instagram: @drayoakerele, Facebook: @Ayo Akerele