37. From Autopilot to Alignment: Living with God’s Purpose in Every Season

When was the last time you checked your spiritual compass? It might be time to wake up your faith and walk in God’s direction again.

Have you ever realized you’ve been going through the motions—doing all the right things but missing the deeper purpose behind them? In this heartfelt episode, Vona shares a personal story that reminds us how easy it is to drift from God’s will without even noticing. She explores how to live intentionally, discern truth in a confusing world, and walk boldly in faith—no matter what season you’re in.

You’ll also hear practical ways to recognize false teachings, avoid spiritual complacency, and anchor your heart in gratitude through Vona’s 30-Day Thanksgiving Challenge. It’s a gentle but powerful invitation to wake up your faith and live each day with eternal purpose.

00:00 Living on Autopilot: A Wake-Up Call
00:46 A Humbling Experience at Walmart
02:00 Struggling with Purpose and Passion
03:20 Navigating Social Media and Faith
06:39 The Importance of Discernment
10:20 Understanding Hypocrisy
17:19 A Challenge for Thankfulness
19:32 Conclusion and Invitation to Club More

Quotes from the Show:
 "Do I  still love people who sin? Of course I do. We all sin and we all need to embrace people wherever they are and love them where they are unconditionally. But that doesn't mean that we celebrate their sins with them. We walk with them and we encourage them to turn to Christ. To help them with their problems. We don't have to fix anybody." Vona Johnson

 "We are often distracted by earthly needs and overlook the fact that false teachings are all around us.  God invites us to spend time in his Word, learning his promises by heart, so that we will recognize false teachings." Vona Johnson

"Don't think for a minute that if Solomon, the wisest man on earth, can't avoid falling for false prophets, that you'll be immune to them. Many people endeavor to lead us down the path that God did not intend for us." Vona Johnson

Verses Referenced:
 Matthew 16:5-12 where Jesus said to the disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

Luke 12: 1-2+ where Jesus talks about hipocricy.

 "Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people's faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them. Such people are not serving Christ our Lord. They're serving their own personal interests. By smooth talk and glowing words, they deceive innocent people." Romans 16:17-18 NLT

"Rejoice always, pray continually. Give thanks In all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ. That give thanks in all circumstances."  
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NLT

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Thank you for stopping by today! Remember to Engage Your Faith and Live Your More as you reap the benefits of Courageous Retirement!

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Learn more about the show, author Vona Johnson, and more at vonajohnson.com!

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Transcript

0:00

Have you ever gotten that sense that you're just living on autopilot and not really even sure if you're following God's will for your life anymore? I had something that happened to me this week that helped me realize how easy it is to get off track and to get out of alignment with God's will for us if we're not paying attention to what we're doing. It starts out as a light and funny story, but it ends up a reality check in that we need to be intentional and we need to be very careful on who and what we align ourselves with.

Speaker: 0:27

Do you fear? What lies beyond retirement? What if it's a gateway to a life filled with purpose, meaning, and adventure rather than an end? Discover peace and fulfillment as you boldly enter this new chapter in Courageous Retirement, a Christian podcast. I'm your host, author, and coach Vona Johnson. Let's get started.

0:46

Last week I stopped at local Walmart to grab a few things and I was able to go to the quick self-checkout. I pulled up and I started running my things through the item and ding, ding. Ding, ding. You know, you get the beep every time something goes through and I'm putting them in my bag, and pretty soon I hear this voice off to my side and it's like, ma'am, that's not working. And I thought, well, obviously she's not talking to me. So I kept ringing up my groceries and pretty soon it was like, uh, um, excuse me, ma'am, but that's not working. And I'm like, what? I don't, I don't even understand. What do you mean? And she pointed to the register and sure enough, there was this big old words right in the middle that said this, this register does not work. Find another register, or whatever it says. And oh my gosh, I was so embarrassed and I apologized up and down. And she's like, ah, you'd be surprised how often it happens. And I literally laughed at myself as I checked out the rest of my items. But it really got me to thinking about how I was literally working on autopilot. I was just going through the motions getting done when I needed to get done, and I was thinking about other things and not obviously focused on what I was doing. I. And it occurred to me that I've kind of been doing that in, in my life lately, it's been just a little over two months now since my dad passed away. And I've learned a few things. I talked about it in an earlier episode about how I've learned that it's okay to not be okay and to give myself the grace to, to walk through the grief, but I thought I was through that. I thought everything was good, but I'm still struggling sometimes to just find purpose, questioning whether I'm really walking the path that God wants me to walk. I gave this talk at Toastmasters earlier this week and I shared this story about how my sister and I were talking shortly after dad's death that our, an excuse my French, but our give a shit meter was broken. And I've kind of, that's kind of continued. It's not really been repaired, and so I have a hard time getting passionate about some of the things. That I often am very passionate about. In fact, this week with the whole no Kings thing really got me stirred up again. I have trouble with that for many reasons. But one of the primary reasons I have trouble with that is because we do have a king. Well, there's only one king. And for me to see Christians stand up and talk about how there is no king really, I find that troubling. So anyway, I was really questioning whether because it was bringing me down to be on social media and see some of the negative comments about our president. And no, he's not perfect by any means, but then none of us are. I think people forget that, the Bible is very clear. That our leaders are placed in authority by God, and God uses people regardless of whether they're good or evil. He can use them for good. I don't question people's, right to protest. I think that we are blessed to live in a country where we can do just that. I, you know, we forget that there are people in other countries that if they even speak the name of Jesus, they can be arrested and put in prison or, or worse. So that's a gift that we have and, and I respect people's right. To do that. I just sometimes question if the people who are using those rights really are thinking about what they're protesting and whether they really wanna stand with some of the things that those protests really stand for. Or against either way. And I really think a lot about, you know, who I align myself with and, and who I work with because, uh, I don't want to support someone who supports abortion. I don't want to align myself with someone who celebrates the sin of homosexuality or encourages. This whole concept of, you know, the, the gender identity issues and things like that. Now, do I still love people who sin? Of course I do. We all sin and we all need to embrace people wherever they are and love them where they are unconditionally. But that doesn't mean that we celebrate their sins with them. We walk with them and we encourage them to turn to Christ. To help them with their problems. We don't have to fix anybody. Like I said, I had contemplated whether I even just wanted to drop out of social media altogether. I, it was like Sunday morning I got up and it was like, Lord, I've had this on my heart before. I just feel like I should just, should I quit facebook at the very least, or should I drop out of social media? It's just, it brings me down. It was funny because his response to me was almost immediate in church Sunday morning as they read the epistle lesson, and I don't have it in front of me right now, but basically the, the lesson ended with do not stop the ministry that I have given you. Like, whoa, okay, got that message and then that afternoon I was on LinkedIn and someone that I follow had a post about how the world would want us to stop talking about religion and politics, but that we need to not stop. We need to stand up for what we believe is right. I had responded to that and, and talked about how discouraged I was and that I was grateful for them sharing that post and reminding me that no, I shouldn't walk away. That I need to continue to be hopefully a light in a such a dark place and continue to speak truth and point people back to the Bible and biblical truth. That's kind of a, a long story to tell you that I think that we have a tendency to drift and we have a tendency to wander away from, god's purpose for us. We, we start to doubt whether our purpose is real. And so then, recently, my port of the prayer, I do it every day and I just, I love how it brings truth to me. It reminds me of things that I need to be focused on. The scripture lesson for that, that particular day was Matthew 16:5-12. And in that particular verse it talked about, Jesus said to them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And it was interesting because it was a story about how he and the disciples were out in isolation and there wasn't anywhere for food. And the the disciples said, oh my gosh, we forgot to bring bread with us. And Jesus' response was watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And it was kinda like, what? I, don't, I don't get the connection there at all. In the devotion that followed, I was really struck by and how it related to my whole experience at the store and being distracted. It said, we are often distracted by earthly needs and overlook the fact that false teachings are all around us. God invites us to spend time in his word, learning his promises by heart, so that we will recognize false teachings. May that word and the gospel promise that it delivers in form and guide our life and. I was kinda like, huh, what? So I started digging, right? That's what I find myself doing so many times as I'm doing my devotions. And that Matthew verse, also is discussed in Luke chapter 12. And, and so here's what Luke says about it, and I felt like it went a little deeper. Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and stepping on each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them. Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, their hypocrisy. The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light. And what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear. Dear friends, don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body. They cannot do anymore after that, but I'll tell you whom to fear. Fear God who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he's the one to fear. That's some, that's some pretty strong stuff there, guys. What struck me about that, and, as you know, I've talked about this often, but so many times when I read the footnote, I, it, it opens up my mind to things that I hadn't thought about when I read the scripture and what, what the footnote here says from, my New Living Translation, the study Bible. But it says that as Jesus watched the huge crowds waiting to hear him, he warned his disciples against hypocrisy trying to appear holy when one's heart is far from God. And he goes, it goes on to say the Pharisees could not keep their attitudes hidden forever. Their selfishness would act like yeast, and soon they would expose themselves for what they really were. Power hungry imposters, not devoted religious leaders. It's easy to be angry at the blatant hypocrisies of the Pharisees, but each one of us must resist the temptation to settle for the appearance of respectability. When our hearts are far from God, you might be wondering why I bring this up now, and I sometimes feel like as we go through autopilot in our lives and we just mindlessly follow the people who we love and respect, we might be following false leaders. False teachers, and we need to be careful of that. We need to not be supporting people who are leading us away from biblical truth. Now, does that mean that we separate them from our lives and, and completely stay away from them? No, we still love them, but we engage them in conversations that bring them back to biblical truth and remind them that the division that the world is trying to create in us does us no good. So, I thought I wanna go on just a little bit more here, because the footnotes, I think does a really great job of talking about hypocrisy. What are the signs of hypocrisy? Hypocrisy is knowing the truth and not obeying it. People can say they follow Jesus, but not be obedient to his word. Hypocrisy is living a self-serving lie. People may desire leadership only because they love the position and the control, not because they want to serve others. Hypocrisy reduces faith to rigid rules. People can end up worshiping their own rules and regulations about what they think God wants. Instead of worshiping God himself, and then lastly, hypocrisy is outward conformity without inner reality, people can obey the details but still be disobedient in their general behavior. For example, a person may carefully tithe his income and be rude and obnoxious to his coworkers. Many non-Christians use the supposed or real hypocrisy of Christians as an excuse to stay away from God and the church. Look carefully at your life. You are not perfect. Therefore, at times, your words and actions can provide ammunition for someone else to call you a hypocrite. However you must discern your own heart. Consider the signs of hypocrisy noted above and make sure that you are not guilty. Then ask God to help you live rightly. I like to tie whatever message I'm giving in Courageous Retirement, back to my book A Different View. When I talked about hypocrisy, it talks about discernment. This is from chapter six, the Cry for Discernment In my book, A Different View. Solomon received discernment from God to know the best course of action to take. He also received the strength of character to take action on the knowledge acquired. Because we have access to God's written word. We know Solomon went on to write the book of Ecclesiastes. In that book we learned he spent his last years looking for the meaning of life. And we understand that apart from God, life has no meaning. Any security or contentment we find in this life is temporary at best and false at worst. Honestly, the most effective use of our time is to seek a genuine relationship with God, the father and his son, Jesus Christ, honestly, the most effective use of our time, is to seek a genuine relationship with God the father and his son Jesus Christ. Don't think for a minute that if Solomon the wisest man on earth can't avoid falling for false prophets, that you'll be immune to them. Many people endeavor to lead us down the path that God did not intend for us. We must be wary, whether it be a promise toward greater faith, a more prosperous life, or a healthier existence. Many of today's gurus will lead us astray if we are not careful. Be wary of those who sound religious but are motivated by money, fame, or power. Be wary of experts who place themselves ahead of Jesus and his kingdom. If their message glorifies themself, instead of Jesus, be on guard. The best way to gauge this is to be in the word and compare their message and how they live their lives to scripture. While we are all sinners, a false prophet will deliberately teach false doctrine and use practices that are not biblically based. There are some pretty impressive ministries out there with some vast followings, which in and of itself isn't bad. But be sure that you focus on Jesus and not on the charismatic leader or the number of people who follow them. Whoever you are following, I challenge you to heed Paul's advice in his letter to the Romans. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people's faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them. Such people are not serving Christ our Lord. They're serving their own personal interests. By smooth talk and glowing words, they deceive innocent people. That's from Romans 16:17 In cautioning you in this, I include myself as well. If anything I say doesn't align with the Bible, I urge you to research it and check the verses before and after the reference. Check other similar verses from other chapters to ensure that it lines up. I encourage you to guard against following anyone who take anything outta context and using it to support their point of view. Now, the reason that I talk about this so much is that there are people, there are churches that are telling people things that are not true. They're telling people that the Bible isn't relevant anymore and that God didn't really mean what he said. Anybody that tells you that, or that gives you a Bible that has been modified to tell you what you wanna hear. Is not your friend. So do we go out and fix everybody that's sinning? That's not even possible because we all sin. But we need to be wary of those who are not acknowledging sin, who are celebrating sin, who are telling you that it's, it's okay to continue in sin and that there is forgiveness. There is forgiveness. But there's so much more there. And if we lead people astray, we are a false profit ourselves. Something to think about. Anyway, going back to my little situation at the grocery store and that lesson I learned about just living on autopilot. Yeah, there are times when we are going to be in the valleys of life. We're not gonna be on mountaintop experiences. In fact, um, much of life is somewhere between the valleys and the mountaintops. But that doesn't mean that we can't live our eternal purpose. Even in the difficult times. So I'm gonna give you a challenge today. Uh, November is always known as the month. We, obviously, we have Thanksgiving, but there are many people who have put out challenges to try and find something to be thankful for every day in November. Funny thing when I gave my talk at Toastmasters, I said I was not going to be doing a challenge. And since then I've thought why not? Why not live up to my own challenge to everybody else? So I am going to do a challenge and I am going to do a post every day of November that will be giving thanks. Now, my challenge was to come up with three things every day. That we are thankful for and they can't be the same three things we've already talked about. So each day, start with your easy stuff. Be thankful for your family. Name'em by name if you wanna do, spread it out over several days. But then I want you to go deep and I want you to find things to be thankful for that maybe aren't normal every day. Things that we would give thanks for. One of my favorite verses is 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, and it goes like this. Rejoice always, pray continually. Give thanks In all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ. That give thanks in all circumstances. Think about it. We all know somebody who is in a troubled relationship. There's division in families everywhere, whether it's divorce or children, disowning their parents or parents disowning their children. There's sickness, there's, division, all over the place. I already talked about social media and the division that we're seeing there, but I would challenge you in those things to find the things to give thanks for, even if it's just. Which I hate that word just when I'm talking about praying and and relying on Jesus. But even if it's only acknowledging that the Holy Spirit is there and is gonna get us through to the other side, that is something to be thankful for. We are never alone. So if you wanna join me on the 30 Day Challenge, I am going to do it not on social media where it can stir up all kinds of crazy things and nobody wants that. We're gonna do it on my, personal community called Club More, and you can join me in that if you go to club.live, that's c-L-U-B-M-O-R-E dot LIVE. You can join me there. You can get your pledge to print out, which is basically a pledge to live your more. But then you can come into my space, you'll be invited to that and I challenge you to put your things out there that you are thankful for. They don't always have to be the mountaintop things, but you can be thankful for getting through the valleys as well. So I wanna thank you so much for stopping by today. This kind of got deep, kind of got heavy, but you know that I am sincere in that I believe we can live our more, we can live our eternal purpose wherever God has placed us, and we can give thanks for that. So I look forward to seeing you back here in two weeks, and in the meantime, I pray that you will always, always engage your faith and live your more in your courageous retirement. God bless.