Why Alignment Always Comes Before Clarity

If you love God—and you’re dreaming boldly, or at least trying to—but you’ve felt tired, scattered, or quietly overwhelmed… Today's blog is for you.

Not to push you harder. Not to give you another thing to do. But to help you realign so you can move forward with peace and without burnout.

Now, let’s call the elephant in the room: (First, for those of you who don’t know me, I’m Julia Gentry. Hey!! And this doesn’t really apply to you, but for those of you who do know me….)  If you’ve followed my work for a while—you may have noticed there’s been a quiet gap. Not because the message disappeared, but because I needed to live it more deeply before teaching it again.

Truth be told, 2025 drained me. Somedays, it literally felt like it took everything out of me to get out of bed, to show up—not even for social media, but seriously, my own life. 

It was a year that felt disorienting for 95% of it. A year that included more loss than gain, more tears than celebration, more surrender than “storm the gates,” more letting go than gaining more. Some call it “refining,” the Bible would say: pruning. Regardless, whew. 

That being said: I’ve learned a lot. 

A LOT. 

And I guess, part of the call that I couldn’t get away from if I tried (and believe me, this year, I did try), is to share that with you. Yes, you. 

If you’re reading this, you’re a dreamer who believes in bringing heaven to earth. You believe in the real presence of God. You believe in taking bold steps of faith, doing what He’s asked you to do. And, you’re tired. Perhaps burnout, maybe disappointed due to delay after delay, obstacle after obstacle. If that is you, then you are not alone and I pray all that I share here, on my YouTube channel, podcast, and in my books encourage you, challenge you, and ultimately equip you to dream bold, and journey well. 

So, in this next season, that is my job. My call. My why. My burn. To give you the tools needed to journey well, to not quit, and to look more like Jesus when it’s all said and done (James 1:2-4). Ok, so here goes: 

What I’ve learned—through this season of burnout, unmet expectations, and rebuilding from the inside out—is this: alignment always comes before clarity. And dreaming with the Lord works best when it flows from rest, not exhaustion.

Let me humanize this for a moment.

I’m a homeschooling mom of five. A wife who champions her husband’s calling. And a woman who has built both business and ministry while navigating seasons of chaos, disappointment, and deep exhaustion. I know what it’s like to carry a calling that feels heavier than it should. 

That’s where things got really real with me and the Lord. 

Me: “Lord, I’m doing this for you… And I’m burning out in the process!” 

Lord: “Burnout is not from me.”

Me: “Well, I need something more than that because my cup is running dry.”

Lord: “I don’t want to fill your cup.”

Me: “What?! What the?! How the heck am I supposed to do all that you’ve called me to do if you’re not willing to fill my cup?”

Lord: “I don’t want to fill your cup. I want to fill you.”

Oh goodness. 

My mind, heart, and life exploded wide open. And now, I’ll live to tell about it… 

Through these weekly teachings on my blog, YouTube, podcast—and my newest book, Arise & Align (comes out Q1)—I’m going to teach you how to build sustainable spiritual rhythms, cultivate clarity, and partner with God in your everyday life, starting with the morning. Because transformation doesn’t come from doing more. It comes from aligning with what God is already doing.

Scripture says, “For you are to be a pure container of Christ, dedicated to the honorable purposes of your Master, prepared for every good work He gives you to do” (2 Timothy 2:21, TPT).

And yet, so often, we treat our quiet time with God like a refill station. We bring Him our cup. He fills it. Then we go live our day, pouring ourselves out until—sometimes within an hour, sometimes a day, sometimes a week—we’re empty again. So we return to His presence, holding out our cup once more. Fill me again, Lord.

Over time, we start to believe spiritual maturity looks like having a bigger cup. More sermons. More podcasts. More church. More effort. And yet, we’re still drained.

So what actually solves this?

Not Google.
Not doing more.
Not even more spiritual content.

One word has changed—and is still changing—my life: alignment.

And no, alignment isn’t trendy or sexy or sticky. It’s refining. It’s purifying. And it’s humbling.

Here’s the thing most of us miss: alignment is not balance. Balance is an even distribution of weight so something can remain steady—and this is exactly why so many believers are exhausted. Balance keeps you upright. Alignment reorders you.

Alignment, by definition, is a position of agreement or alliance. Spiritually, alignment is when God’s Word reorders your life. It’s when truth becomes practice. When your will is yoked to His. When calling Jesus “Lord” moves beyond belief and begins reshaping your rhythms, decisions, and daily structure. It even retrains your nervous system to live from trust instead of urgency.

Too often as believers, we see our quiet time with the Lord as the place where we bring Him “our cup to fill.” We sit with Him, He fills our cup, and then we go live our day, pouring ourselves out until—sometimes within an hour, sometimes a day, sometimes a week—we’re empty again. So we return to His presence, holding out our cup once more, “Fill me, Lord.”

Over time, we start to believe that getting a “bigger cup” is what spiritual maturity looks like. Look at me—I’ve got a bigger cup now! We take pride in it, thinking we’ve leveled up because He fills us more and we last longer before running dry.

Weeks—maybe even months—pass, and our increased capacity leads us to do more for the Lord. We pat ourselves on the back, convinced that because we’re running on empty less often, we must be maturing. After all, isn’t that what growth looks like?

But here’s the subtle danger: we begin to equate “lasting longer out there” with closeness to Him, when in reality, we’re drifting further from His feet. We’re doing more for Him while sitting less with Him.

But here’s what we’re missing: He doesn’t just want to fill your cup. He wants to fill you.You are His vessel. He longs to be in union with you. He doesn’t fill you so you can go do more for Him. He fills you so you can be more with Him.

And sometimes, the place He chooses to do that deep filling—the place where union happens—is hidden, quiet, and unexpected.

So let me ask you this to get you started in your own journey of awakening, and aligning: 

Where might you be out of alignment? 

Pause. Really consider your answers. 

Maybe its mindset—where fear, doubt, or worry are quietly leading the ship. Maybe it’s heartset—where you’re doing the right things, but with the wrong motives. Or maybe it’s dreamset—where the steps themselves aren’t wrong, they’re just out of order.

Pause and consider. 

Then, consider this question: 

How do you get back into alignment? 

Pause. Really consider your answers. 

Jesus said it plainly in Matthew 6:33: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

The main thought to help you start: God doesn’t just want to fill your cup. He wants to fill YOU.

He doesn’t want you hustling to do more for Him. He wants to be with you, in you—living as one, fully united to you.

Paul says it best in the book of Ephesians when he says: …all the devoted believers who have been made holy by being one with Jesus, the Anointed One. May God himself, the heavenly Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, release grace over you and impart total well-being into your lives. Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from our wonderful heavenly Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus—all because he sees us wrapped into Christ. This is why we celebrate him with all our hearts! (Ephesians 1: 2-3 TPT).

Jesus didn’t just die for you. He came to live in you, to make you His holy vessel, so you’re no longer striving to “do more for Him,” but instead living as one with Him. So surrendered, so yielded, so filled that you can’t help but explode with His glory. That—right there—is the reality of the cross. 

Scripture goes onto say: And in love he chose us before he laid the foundation of the universe! Because of his great love, he ordained us, so that we would be seen as holy in his eyes with an unstained innocence. For it was always in his perfect plan to adopt us as his delightful children, through our union with Jesus, the Anointed One, so that his tremendous love that cascades over us would glorify his grace—for the same love he has for the Beloved, Jesus, he has for us. And this unfolding plan brings him great pleasure! Since we are now joined to Christ, we have been given the treasures of redemption by his blood—the total cancellation of our sins—all because of the cascading riches of his grace. This superabundant grace is already powerfully working in us, releasing all forms of wisdom and practical understanding. And through the revelation of the Anointed One, he unveiled his secret desires to us—the hidden mystery of his long-range plan, which he was delighted to implement from the very beginning of time. And because of God’s unfailing purpose, this detailed plan will reign supreme through every period of time until the fulfillment of all the ages finally reaches its climax—when God makes all things new  in all of heaven and earth through Jesus Christ. Through our union with Christ we too have been claimed by God as his own inheritance. Before we were even born, he gave us our destiny; that we would fulfill the plan of God who always accomplishes every purpose and plan in his heart. God’s purpose was that we Jews, who were the first to long for the messianic hope, would be the first to believe in the Anointed One and bring great praise and glory to God! (Ephesians 1: 4-12 TPT)

He wants to flood every part of you until you can’t help but overflow—until your very life cascades with His kingdom glory. Because His heart has always been to bring heaven to earth, and yes, He wants to do that through you. But more than that? He simply wants you.

And even in the midst of whatever struggles you are going through, whether you find yourself wandering in the wilderness or at a mountain top moment, He sees you. Every seed of faith you’ve planted. Every prayer you’ve whispered. Every dream you’ve dared to dream. He sees it all—your disappointment, your desires, your fears, your bold “yeses,” your tears. Every step of obedience, He’s seen it. And I believe He’s saying: “Stop coming to Me just asking Me to fill your cup. I want to fill YOU.”

As we see in the book of Ephesians and as Paul continues to write (and seriously, go read the whole book of Ephesians!): Then, by constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside you, and the resting place of His love will become the very source and root of your life. Then you will be empowered to discover… the astonishing love of Christ in all its dimensions… endless love beyond measurement that transcends our understanding—this extravagant love pours into you until you are filled to overflowing with the fullness of God! (Ephesians 3:17-19 TPT)

Did you catch that? His extravagant love pours into you until you are filled to overflowing with the fullness of God. I don’t know about you, but I’ve got goosebumps just writing that.

He wants to do so much more than just answer a prayer or “fill your cup,” He wants to fill you. 

This is what it means to sit under the waterfall of His grace. 

This is what it means to Arise & Align.

Truth be told, this is so much more than just a morning routine. It’s a divine invitation. Not just for Him to fill your cup, but for Him to fill you. 

It’s simple. And it’s stupid hard.

And it starts with the first fifteen minutes of your day.

That’s why I’m here. That’s why I decided to step back into the studio. And no—it’s not an accident you’re here reading this. Learning to Arise & Align, first as a morning routine and then as a way of life, will change everything—in the best way possible. Ask me how I know.

So start now. Start today. And don’t stop.

Let’s begin again—aligned, unhurried, and faithful.

**DON’T FORGET: Click on THIS LINK to gain FULL ACCESS to my mini course and Arise & Align morning routine page. 

Or, join me LIVE, as well as my community of Dreamers in my online community: BOLD Dreamers. You’ll thank me later.  And of course, join me every week on my podcast, FREE TO DREAM, for people who love God but don’t want to burn out chasing His call.