In Chapter 2: Destiny’s Call from Book I of S.O.L.A.D.™: Soldiers of Light Against Darkness™, Kevin Darryl Edwards wakes up shaking. Not from pizza. Not from imagination. Not from random anxiety. But from a recurring dream. Same unknown people. Same key moments. Same message building toward something bigger. And what does Kevin do? He looks out the window at the storm and asks: “God, what are You trying to tell me through these dreams?”

Alignment is what happens when your prayers, your choices, your pace, and your obedience begin to agree with what God has been showing you all along. It’s the relief you feel when you stop fighting what God is correcting. It’s the peace that settles in when you finally let go of what never fit.

Monday, February 1, 1960, four young Black men sat down at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. They did not raise their voices. They did not raise their fists. They raised their resolve. They sat—and refused to move.

The adrenaline of the new year is gone. The grit of endurance has already been tested. You’ve stayed. You’ve remained. You didn’t quit when it got uncomfortable. Now comes the harder question: Where is this actually leading me? That question is not a sign of doubt. It’s often a sign of favor.

Soldier of Light Against Darkness™,this message is not for those who quit at the first sign of trouble. It’s for those who keep showing up. Those who keep praying. Those who keep believing. Those who keep holding everything—and everyone—together.

Quiet obedience is not flashy. It does not perform well in a world addicted to visibility. But it is one of the most trusted postures in Scripture, because it reveals something deeper than talent or enthusiasm—it reveals faithfulness.

Some moments demand everything you have. But Soldier of Light Against Darkness™, one of the hardest assignments God ever gives His people is this: Stand firm when nothing appears to be happening.

Proverbs reminds us plainly, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23). Guarding requires boundaries, and boundaries require discernment. That discernment—knowing what to refuse as much as what to receive—is not resistance to God’s will. It is often evidence of it.

Soldier of Light Against Darkness™, many believers are exhausted not because they are disobedient—but because they are overcommitted. They confuse availability with obedience, activity with faithfulness, and opportunity with calling. The enemy does not always need to stop you. Sometimes he only needs to distract you.

We celebrate the sudden win, the overnight success, the dramatic elevation. But Scripture—and life—tell a different story. God is far less concerned with how fast you move than with how long you can remain faithful while moving. That’s where endurance comes in.

There is a kind of faith that doesn’t announce itself. A kind of obedience that doesn’t require affirmation. A kind of devotion that keeps showing up whether anyone is watching or not. This is faith that doesn’t need applause. Not because it’s weak. But because it’s secure.

The confetti has settled. The declarations have quieted. The pressure to reinvent yourself overnight has softened. And that’s a good thing—because real transformation doesn’t happen in the shouting. It happens in the steps. This second day of 2026 is where faith moves from intention to motion. Not leaps. Not dramatic pivots. Just the decision to keep walking with God when the excitement fades and the work begins. That’s where favor shows up.

Ray Kinsella isn’t looking for meaning when the voice comes to him. He’s just walking through his cornfield, living an ordinary life, carrying unresolved questions about his past and his father. And then, out of nowhere, the impossible happens. A voice speaks. It doesn’t identify itself. It doesn’t provide credentials. It doesn’t offer proof. It simply gives instruction. Build… and trust.

Soldier of Light Against Darkness™, 2025 does not require you to carry every experience forward as proof of endurance. Some things were endured so they could be released. The mistake many believers make is assuming that because something survived the year, it must be assigned to the next one.

God says plainly, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you… and when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned” (Isaiah 43:2). Notice the language. Not if you pass through—but when. Favor does not prevent the fire; it ensures the fire does not consume you.

God develops His greatest warriors in secret places. He strengthens His champions in shadows, not stages. The shadows are not your punishment —they are your preparation. God hides you to shape you. He shields you to strengthen you. He shelters you to sharpen you. Everything He is building in you right now is happening away from public eyes — but it is not wasted. Heaven sees everything you’re becoming.

Sometimes the Commander allows the battlefield to grow dark so He can give you a new kind of sight. Every warrior must learn night vision. Because anyone can see God in sunshine — but it takes a trained soldier to recognize Him in shadows. Dark seasons are not proof of defeat. They are proof of development. They are invitations to deeper vision, sharper discernment, and greater dependence on the Commander’s voice.

God often goes quiet right before the breakthrough, right before the miracle, right before the strike. When the Commander stops speaking, it is not a punishment — it is a positioning. He is not ignoring you…He is preparing you. He is not distant…He is drawing you deeper. He is not silent because He is uninvolved…He is silent because He is working behind the scenes, beneath the surface, and beyond your sight. Silence is not the absence of God — it is the atmosphere before His