“The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.”
— Proverbs 10:22
We live in a world that celebrates the grind. We hear it all the time: “You get what you work for.” “Hustle until it happens.” “Sleep is for the weak.”
But what if that’s not the whole story?
What if the path to real abundance is not paved with sweat and strain, but with surrender and alignment? What if success, in God’s economy, has more to do with obedience than output?
That’s the question Proverbs 10:22 invites us to consider. It tells us that when God blesses something, He adds no sorrow—no burnout, no toil, no regret. Just fruitfulness. Peace. Joy.
And that sounds like a kind of success worth seeking.
My Season of Striving
I remember a time when I was burning the candle at both ends. I had a full-time job, four highly demanding volunteer roles, a side hustle, and an inbox that felt like a never-ending game of whack-a-mole. I was proud of how hard I worked. People praised my hustle.
But underneath it all, I was tired. Anxious. Drained. Worse, I wasn’t seeing the kind of breakthrough I expected. The harder I worked, the further away peace and provision seemed.
One night, in a moment of quiet introspection, I prayed a simple but powerful prayer: “God, what do You actually want me to do?”
The answer didn’t come immediately. But over the next few weeks, I began to notice that some of my most exhausting tasks had no eternal weight. They were good things—even church things—but not God-things. And slowly, painfully, I began to lay them down.
Exhaustion is not the price of purpose. What God calls you to do may stretch you, but it will also sustain you with grace, peace, and quiet strength. Share on XThe Difference Between Activity and Obedience
We often assume that more activity equals more obedience. But busyness isn’t the same as fruitfulness. Just because you’re moving doesn’t mean you’re going where God is leading.
Think of Martha in Luke 10. She was bustling around, preparing the house, serving Jesus—doing all the right things. Meanwhile, her sister Mary just sat at Jesus’ feet, listening.
And what did Jesus say? “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Martha was active. Mary was aligned.
The work God blesses is the work God assigns. Not the work that impresses others. Not the work that fills your calendar. Just the work that flows from obedience.
Divine Alignment: The Unseen Accelerator
When you align with God’s plan for your life, something powerful happens: things begin to move with ease. What used to feel like pushing a boulder uphill becomes a glide. Ideas come faster. Doors open wider. Resources show up.
This doesn’t mean life becomes effortless. But it becomes less straining. There’s a rhythm. A flow. And it’s not coming from you—it’s coming through you.
Psalm 1 describes the person who delights in God’s word as a tree planted by streams of water, “which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.”
Notice: the tree isn’t moving around, chasing rain. It’s planted. Positioned. Aligned. And because it’s in the right place, it thrives.
So ask yourself: Are you chasing rain, or are you planted by the stream?
You Were Not Made for Endless Toil
From the very beginning, God designed us to live and work from a place of rest. In Genesis, before Adam did any work, God gave him identity, purpose, and blessing.
Work came after rest, not before.
But somewhere along the way, we flipped the script. We began to tie our worth to our work. We began to strive for what God meant to supply. And in doing so, we started to wear ourselves out.
Ecclesiastes 2:22-23 puts it plainly: “What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest.”
That’s not God’s will for you. He doesn’t want you to live perpetually exhausted, anxious, or empty.
Provision Follows Purpose
In Luke 22:35, Jesus asks His disciples, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?”
“Nothing,” they answered.
When God sends you, He funds you. When you walk in your assignment, provision follows. Not always in advance. Not always the way you expect. But always on time.
Provision is tied to purpose. If you’re struggling to see provision, it might be time to ask: Am I still walking within the boundaries of the purpose God gave me, or have I drifted into someone else’s lane?
You don’t have to make things happen on your own. God is more invested in your purpose than you are. And He’s faithful to provide everything you need to fulfill it.
The Surrendered Life Is the Successful Life
In the world, success is often measured by accumulation but in the Kingdom of God, success is a function of alignment.
That’s why Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
He didn’t say to chase the things. He said to chase the King.
That means making obedience your strategy. It means letting God lead, even when it doesn’t make sense on paper. It means saying no to good opportunities so you can say yes to divine assignments.
It means trusting that when you do your part, God will do His.
What Alignment Looks Like in Real Life
Alignment doesn’t always look glamorous. Sometimes it looks like quitting a job that pays well but drains your soul. Sometimes it looks like staying in a season that feels hidden, because God said, “Not yet.”
It might look like starting a business that others don’t understand. Or walking away from one that’s thriving, because God has something new. It might mean doing less, earning less, and having more peace.
Alignment is deeply personal. But the fruit is always recognizable: Peace. Clarity. Joy. Provision. Favor.
Signs You Might Be Striving Instead of Aligning
Here are a few questions to help you check your heart:
- Are you constantly overwhelmed, even when you’re doing good things?
- Do you feel disconnected from your own sense of purpose?
- Are you driven by fear (of failure, of lack, of falling behind)?
- Do you feel like you have to prove something to someone?
- Are you ignoring God’s nudge to slow down, shift, or surrender?
If you answered yes to any of these, it might be time to pause and realign.
How to Shift from Striving to Aligning
1. Invite God into Your Calendar
Pray over your schedule. Ask Him what should stay and what should go.
2. Listen for His Voice
God often speaks in whispers, not shouts. Pay attention to repeated nudges, thoughts that won’t leave, or scriptures that leap off the page.
3. Take Small Steps of Obedience
Alignment doesn’t always require a big leap. Sometimes it’s just saying yes to one thing or no to another.
4. Trust the Timing
Just because something hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean it won’t. God’s delays are not His denials.
5. Celebrate the Peace
Peace is confirmation. When you feel peace about a decision—even if it’s scary—that’s often a sign of divine alignment.
A Word of Hope
If you’ve been living in survival mode, working yourself into the ground, chasing outcomes that never seem to satisfy—you’re not alone. And you’re not stuck.
God isn’t asking you to strive harder. He’s inviting you to surrender deeper.
You can live a life of peace and purpose. You can experience the kind of success that doesn’t come with sorrow, the kind found in Success Through Surrender. You can walk in a rhythm of grace that refreshes you instead of draining you.
But it starts with trust. It starts with obedience. It starts with alignment.
So, stop striving. Start aligning.
God is ready when you are.