9/11/26 | Written by Idina Cole

Today, I’m inviting you into a moment during morning stillness that when I woke up that morning, I don't even remember how I fell asleep. I knew that I ate dinner. I think I started watching a little television, and then somehow, I was awake. And I couldn't go back to sleep.

When that happens and I realize I am not going back to sleep, I have learned to pay close attention to those moments. It is not because I believe every instance of middle of the night insomnia carries some deep, mystical revelation. Rather, when something heavy is pressing on my mind that I cannot seem to shake, I have learned to slow down and ask a simple question: "Lord, what are You trying to get me to notice?"

Sometimes, there are crucial things we are simply too busy to notice during the noise of the day. On this particular morning, I couldn't get away from the familiar words of Proverbs 29:18:

I have read that scripture and heard it taught dozens of times throughout my life. But if I am being completely transparent, the picture of vision I used to carry was vastly different from what the Holy Spirit is beginning to show me now.

When most of us hear the word vision, our minds immediately pivot to our personal goals, our purpose, our businesses, our ministries, and what we are supposed to be building next. We treat vision like a corporate roadmap or a five year strategy plan. But that is not actually what this ancient verse is primarily talking about. The original word translated as vision specifically means divine revelation. It means God's revealed instruction and what He has personally made known to us.

When we shift that definition, it changes everything. If we make vision entirely about our personal ambitions, our prayers become a constant interrogation of, "God, what am I supposed to build next?" But when we understand vision as true divine revelation, the question shifts to a much deeper place: "Father, what have You already revealed, and am I actually living according to it?" Before we demand a new assignment or a better strategy, we must first learn to recognize His direction and get to know Him intimately.

The Danger of Building on Information Alone

When there is no active, divine revelation governing your day, something else will inevitably step in to occupy that territory. Your fluctuating feelings become your guide. Your deep seated fears and default defense mechanisms of performance or rejection become your guide. The frantic urgency of culture and what everyone else is doing on social media becomes your guide. Eventually, you can find yourself doing what seems right in your own eyes, completely unaware that you have stopped asking God what is right in His eyes.

This is the exact pattern that old covenant history warns us about. In the book of Judges, it is recorded that after Joshua's disciplined generation passed away, a new generation arose that did not experientially know the Lord or the miraculous works He had done. (Judges 3) By the end of that historical account, we see a haunting summary: "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes."

When a woman loses sight of who she is in God, she rarely stops believing in Him altogether. She still knows her favorite scriptures, she still attends her church, she still speaks the fluent language of faith, and she might even teach other people how to grow. But somewhere underneath the busy religious activity, she has stopped knowing Him.

There is a massive danger in substituting historical information about God for the current revelation of God. You can have all the right facts and still be completely disconnected from what the Father is whispering to your heart right now. The prophet Amos warned of a severe famine in the land—not a shortage of bread or water, but a famine of hearing the actual words of the Lord. (Amos 8:11). It is entirely possible to have your shelves lined with christian books and study tools, yet your soul remains completely starving for a real, intimate word from the Father.

Shifting From Performance to Alignment

When we stop listening to God, our hearts never remain neutral. Other internal voices automatically start speaking much louder to fill the void. For many high achieving women, those voices manifest as distinct identity survival patterns:

• The Performance Lens: You fall back into chronic over-functioning, constantly trying to outrun your anxiety and prove through your production that you are enough.
• The Fear Lens: You become trapped in intense overthinking and mental paralysis, terrified that if you make one wrong decision, your entire life or business will fall apart.
• The Hiddenness Lens: You actively shrink back, put up walls, and hide because using your authentic voice feels completely unsafe.
• The Rejection Lens: Past relational trauma causes you to interpret every transition or silent season as an absolute abandonment, driving you to perform to keep people close or isolate yourself before they can leave.
• The Fragmented Lens: You know exactly what you believe in your mind, but your daily habits, frantic pace, and stress levels do not line up with the truth you possess.

I have lived those exact patterns. I remember being in a cycle where I was using technology tools to meticulously organize my thoughts, dictate transcripts, create emails, and build blogs. There is absolutely nothing inherently wrong with being organized and using today's technology to assist you. But underneath the productivity, the Lord began to show me that I was depending entirely on my own systems rather than relying on His current revelation. I had an immense amount of spiritual information, but I had to stop and ask: "Lord, after everything I have learned, do I actually know You more deeply?"

True vision is not a five year business plan. Look at Moses in Exodus 33. He was already actively leading millions of people. He already had a massive kingdom assignment, and he knew exactly where they were supposed to go. Yet, he did not approach God asking for a sharper management strategy. He prayed, "Show me now Your way, that I may know You." In the Amplified version, that word knowing implies becoming deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, recognizing His heart, and understanding His ways. Moses refused to move a single inch without the literal presence of God, declaring that he did not want the promise or the destination if the Father wasn't walking beside him.

The Pathway to Restoration:

If you are tired of trying to force your own vision through worldly hustle, the Holy Spirit is inviting you into an intentional realignment journey. True surrender is rarely a single, dramatic event where you give up everything at an altar. It is a daily, step by step process. When you are ready to stop your survival mode habits, you can return to the Father using a simple three part framework:

1. Reveal

Realignment always begins with radical awareness. Get somewhere quiet and pray the vulnerable prayer: "Lord, search my heart and show me what is actually happening inside me." Ask Him to expose the anxious thoughts, the hidden control hooks, and the specific areas where fear, rejection, or performance have been secretly driving your work pace. We do not ask for this exposure so we can condemn ourselves. Awareness is not a tool for shame; it is an intimate invitation from a loving Father to come out of hiding and step into freedom. Don't be surprised if what He reveals is something that you believed you let go of. If He reveals it, then it still there directing your decisions.

2. Release

Once the Holy Spirit shines a light on a hidden root, surrender gets practical. There will be agreements, habits, or old mindsets you need to lay down, even if you cannot fully explain where they originally came from. You don't have to carry the pressure of fixing yourself through your own human strength. It is entirely acceptable to tell the Father, "Lord, I don't know exactly why I hold onto this control, but I don't want it anymore. Help me let it go and teach me how to receive Your love (1 Corinthians 13) in the exact place where this fear used to have power."

3. Reorder

Renewing the mind with the word of God (Romans 12:2) replaces old sefl defeating thoughts with your identity in Him. You are made in the image of God. He never exposes a broken foundation just to leave you feeling empty. He brings things into the light so He can teach you a completely new way to live. Reordering means intentionally putting relationship before your assignment, presence before your performance, and peace before cultural pressure. Instead of frantically asking what you need to achieve, ask: "What truth do I need to stand on now?"

Governing Your Pace with Peace

Instead of letting urgency or anxiety dictate your schedule, these verses focus on letting God's peace rule your heart and steps:

• Colossians 3:15: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
• Isaiah 26:3: You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
• Proverbs 3:5–6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

If a fear of rejection used to silence you, let quick obedience determine when you speak.

Overcoming Fear with Obedience

Instead of letting the fear of rejection or human opinion silence you, these passages emphasize seeking God's approval above human praise, walking in boldness rather than timidity, obeying His commands without delay, and speaking fearfully of what He has done:

Galatians 1:10, 2 Timothy 1:7, Psalm 119:60, Acts 4:19–20: You can find the full text of these scriptures regarding pleasing God rather than men, receiving a spirit of power, hastening to obey, and speaking boldly in the referenced sources.
As you step into reordering.

Reclaiming Your True Voice

Your voice is intricately connected to your identity because your voice carries your true witness (Isaiah 43:10). It is woven into your personal testimony, your leadership style, your prayers, and your daily obedience. If the enemy can convince you that your ideas aren't valuable, that your story doesn't matter, or that your influence is irrelevant, he doesn't have to stop your calling altogether. He only has to keep you quiet, hidden, or operating from a place of deep spiritual exhaustion.

​Reclaiming your voice is not simply about learning how to speak loudly or market a business. It is about becoming so profoundly secure in your identity as a daughter of God that you no longer require permission from people to obey Him.

If you feel like your life or business has been interrupted by a dry season lately, do not assume that the Father is angry with you or pulling away. He is not punishing you. He is pruning you because He loves you too much to let you carry your old survival habits into your next assignment. He is drawing you closer, slowing you down, and inviting you back to your first love. The ultimate goal of your life is not to become more productive at doing things God never authored; the goal is to become fully responsive to the One who created you.

You are a beloved daughter before you are a doer. You do not have to perform, strive, or grind to earn the love your Father has already freely given you. You can slow down, take one faithful step at a time, use pen and paper to tell Him the raw truth in your journal, and trust that His presence is more than enough for the journey ahead.

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