To believe, we have to trust. Trust is the key component of belief. When I was a teenager I broke my relationship with God. It was a relationship that had developed through the early religious training I received in Catholic grade school. The fact that I broke my relationship with God did not change that I always believed in God. I believed in God even while I was living the life of an addict -- in utter pandemonium. My behaviors had nothing to do with my belief in Him. It was my lack of trust in Him which led me astray from a relationship with Him for so long. Trust, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is "assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something".
To have such certainty for the Supreme Power requires humility, exactly that which the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous give us. The incorporation of the steps of such a program into our lives begins to break down our egos so that humility (and all the many benefits from it) can seep into our lives. After some time we actually develop a hunger for it. I have learned in my experience with the program of Alcoholics Anonymous that humility is the key that unlocks the door to the grace of God. It is only through this grace that we remain sober and recovered from our addictions and the manifestation of our character defects. Our egos must be deflated and our human desires subrogated to the will of God. Belief is necessary of course, but trust is essential.
TRUST IS THE KEY COMPONENT OF BELIEF.
Trust is rooted in faith yet being faithful to what one believes in doesn't equate to trust in the beliefs one has. In other words, believing something or someone exists is definitive. Trusting in what one believes in takes more than just opting - it takes mind and heart and a desire for something more than an existence in but an integral part of something bigger. To trust takes a willing spirit in order to know that being human doesn't mean being an individual but a MIRACULOUS PRODUCT of a superpower, God. Without trust that you are NOT alone and that you ARE but a crucial fragment of a much bigger picture forever being drawn, you may be alive but you will never live.
ReplyDeleteCaitlin love when you wrote "trust is rooted in faith yet being faithful to what one believes in doesn't equate to trust in the beliefs one has." I always believed in God but never trusted in God with my life. I left that to my intellect which was always trying to satiate my human instinct. By integrating the actual program of Alcoholics Anonymous into my life in such a way that it became my life a complete trust in God became not only necessary but desired...Thank You....Armand
ReplyDeleteNothing was possible for me without Trust. Not faith, not humility, not belief, and certainly not peace of mind. Even after years in AA, I could not feel the benefits that Recovery offers. And that was because I hadn't developed a personal relationship with The Higher Power Within me. The Second Step taught me to trust that by incorporating the remaining Steps into my life and practicing them on a daily basis, I would find the personal relationship I was missing. That is exactly true. Trust is not a leap of faith for me. It is a step-by-step walk into the new and wonderful world The Big Book describes.
ReplyDeleteMichael The Twelve Steps affords us an opportunity to develop a personal relationship with God thus overcoming the true malady which is self centered fear. We learn that alcohol is but a symptom. Not drinking is a by product of the healing of the self centered fear. Belief is necessary but trust is essential...Thank you...Armand
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