I did not know how misaligned I was in my body, soul and spirit until I literally collapsed onto the floor.

After teaching for more than 15 years, I resigned and enrolled into a Bible school. Upon graduation I was headed to Cambodia for a missions trip, but I was stopped dead in my tracks by a rude shock.

I had arranged to meet my Bible school friends for dinner. I parked my car at level five of Plaza Singapura, opened the door and stepped out.

Suddenly, an excruciating pain hit my back. I could not stand up. The pain was so unbearable that I slumped to the floor. Lying on the ground helplessly, all I could manage to do was grab my phone to call my friends.

When they found me, they called for an ambulance and I was wheeled to the A&E department. My friends told me later that a car had reversed into the empty lot next to mine. Had they not located me, I would have been crushed since I was in the driver’s blind spot.

Thank God for preserving my life! I was diagnosed with a slipped disc, and that was when I began what I call my wilderness journey.

During my recuperation, I had no regular income – but I had regular quiet time with God.

God showed me how misaligned my life had been. I was running on the performance treadmill and relying on my own strength to accomplish things. No wonder my body protested – I was burnt out.

Having the luxury of time in my hands, one of the things I enjoyed doing was learning at different seminars. I attended one organised by Archippus Awakening.

Now, something interesting happened two weeks before the seminar. A word was released to me that I would be given a new sense of smell – I would smell fragrance in the presence of His truth.

And at the seminar I really smelled fragrance!

Busyness is not fruitfulness. Faithfulness is key.

God had my attention.

And as I heard Pastor Henson (founder of Archippus Awakening) speak about being awakened, aligned and assigned – my spirit leapt in resonance!

God whispered to me that I was called out to be in alignment with what He wants to do in this season. I was to be anything but aimless.

I wanted to finish strong and to be able to say I had done what God assigned me to do. So I charged to the book table after the seminar and bought a copy of Say to Archippus. I devoured the book and got in touch with Pastor Henson after that, eventually attending an awakening event (a retreat) to learn more.

As I focused on intimacy with God, my body began to recover, as my soul and spirit were restored.

I also began to receive assignments from Him. God said to say no to teaching and yes to writing. That was challenging because I would have no regular income.

But as I learnt to obey Him, He encouraged me. When my second book was published, I received encouraging reports of how the book had been a blessing.

When we focus on the aligning, God will do the assigning.

One email from a caregiver excited my heart: She was reading my teaching anecdotes to a 77-year-old retired lady suffering from dementia. Usually unresponsive, this lady began to move her hands and a smile appeared on her face.

The caregiver told me how encouraging it was to see her patient progress; she was prompted to write to encourage me. I knew in my heart then that God was affirming my obedience.

I also resolved to discern between kingdom assignments and Christian activities. In choosing kingdom assignments, I was experiencing unspeakable joy and a sense of purpose amidst challenges. Life becomes all about Christ and being intentional to fulfill kingdom purposes.

Obedience is the key to unlock blessings.

When we focus on the aligning, God will do the assigning.

One of the kingdom assignments I took up was to be a mentor in the Mentoring Aligning Process (MAP) – an Archippus Awakening initiative. What mentors do in MAP is journey with their mentees to check their alignment to God.

In such a ministry, I learnt to do things differently. I learnt to let God empower me and to work from a posture of rest. That meant having to completely trust Him and obey Him – not relying on my own strength or wisdom.

God is my King, and I do what the King says. I have been awakened! I do not want to go back to sleep again. Busyness is not fruitfulness. Faithfulness is key. I am also thankful for a community of kingdom friends, Archippuses, whom I can journey with and spur one another on to finish our race.

May I encourage all of us to be awakened, aligned and assigned for our King and His kingdom purposes. May we echo Jesus’ words in John 17:4: “Father I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”