I am often asked, "HOW will I know what God's will for me is???." The "Big Book" of Alcoholics Anonymous says, "...that it is not probable that we are going to be inspired at all times. We might pay for this presumption in all sorts of absurd actions and ideas. Nevertheless, we find that as time passes our thinking will be more and more on the plane of inspiration We come to rely on it." Inspiration is defined as, "the thoughts of God implanted in the mind and soul of man." Once the thoughts of God hit our souls we do not need to run it by our intellect to know it is indeed the Truth.
Although we are not yet capable of turning our will and our life over to the care of God in Step Three, we are capable of making a decision - a final choice - to do so. Deciding from this day forward we are willing to overturn our thought processes that are propelled by our human instincts in order that they may be ruled only by the will of God - which is received through inspiration.
If you have already made that decision, may God bless you and may He keep you. If you have not, perhaps now (this moment, right now) would be the time for you to make it... to turn your thoughts and your behaviors over to the care of God and begin to live a life of peace and a life of pure, unimpeachable joy.
Written by Armand
Edited by Caitlin Alexandra
Nothing has had greater impact on my life or provided greater peace than trusting The Power Within me to relieve my mind and, therefore, my actions of the burdens and consequences of self-sufficiency. I have come to know that the thoughts of God require no thinking on my part. They are simply and gently affixed in my mind for me through Trust. As a result, I make fewer decisions, express less doubt and ambivalence, and lead a happier and fuller life. His will for me is instinctive, not instructive or intrusive. My role is to be patient and consistent in receiving it and carrying it out. Enabling this transformation is the direct result of incorporating The Twelve Steps into my daily living, and developing a personal relationship with The Power Within me which was missing and is why I drank. My greatest moments as a human being are in sharing what has been implanted in me with my fellow travelers. It is the me I was born to be.
ReplyDeleteMichael love when you wrote "the thoughts of God require no thinking on my part." An inspired life is one us alcoholics and addicts must live if we are to recover and partake in the bounty of God's grace. But as Bill says "a price has to be paid. It meant the destruction of self centeredness."...Thank You...Armand
ReplyDeleteThis Comment Is From A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic
ReplyDeleteEven from the earliest moments of my having attained the "age of reason," knowledge of the will of God had never been a problem. Following it however was an entirely different story. I simply didn't have the desire nor "juice" to delay my overwhelming appetite for instant gratification, often at the expense of others, and the result was always the same deep sense of guilt followed by an overwhelming compulsion to avoid, at all costs, the shameful consequences and social rejection of my actions. Usually by lying, but the effort to maintain an illusion of my outward innocence always required a never ending stream of elaborately concocted lies that, as many have experienced, results in a veritable mountain of guilt and shame I was completely incapable of extracting myself from. I easily bought into the ultimate deception that the antidote for this poisoned way of thinking was to swallow more of the same delusional poison that had overwhelmed me in the first place, the inevitable result, insanity...
Self obsession was the fuel that ultimately propelled my total rejection of the person of God and His gloriously simple plan for continuous communion and the overwhelming joy and peace that follows. Alcohol became my principal source of courage, refuge and yes my principle "god" ( for I had many others). Yet, in His perfect provision, the very substance that compelled me to waste what little was left of my life became the very propellent that ultimately initiated the desperate cry to the very Person whom I had rejected and Who's principles l despised. In one spontaneous plea for deliverance, birthed from the belly of my soul, hopelessness became hope, gilt dissolved in mercy and shame was swallowed by the love and acceptance of the one true and Living Father of Light. My testimony is now inextricably joined together with the founders who had come to believe that the love and forgiveness of God transcends every sinful act mankind has ever committed, and that this same Author and Finisher provides Himself... as the simple yet complete plan, propitiation and power the very instant anyone musters the mere willingness to believe.
To anyone who has ears be of good cheer! For He stands at the doorway of your heart and knocks with love and compassion beyond telling. His one desire is to come into your heart and bring you peace, and provide His eternal comfort to your soul. Amen...
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic thank you so much for sharing your experience. Making a decision to turn our will and our life over to the care of God is a final choice that our thought process will no longer be propelled by our human instinct but rather by the will of God. By continuing through the remaining steps we come to the back half of the Eleventh Step where we are praying ONLY for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out. There we are free of self and in the will of God...Thank you...Armand
ReplyDeleteObsessive compulsive thinking patterns in brain scan photos show "hot spots" heating up. Prayer as an intervention over time shows in scans to "reorganize" neurocircuitry and eliminate the over heating patterns. untreated alcoholism borders on "compulsive", "obsessive". These patterns might be called instincts. The instinct to survive chaotic environments and instincts related to materialist world viewpoint. Transformation occurs in people thru spiritual program of action, complete surrender to spiritual reality of Being. Harmoneous God centered expansive universe rather than limited malformed reactions. (Character defects, stinking thinking, instincts gone amuck, monkey mind...)
ReplyDeleteSpiritual Being a thought process inspired by the will of God, a vital Spiritual experience, is the solution to our alcoholism. the step Book say "if we can receive a perfect release from our alcoholism, why not apply it to every other problem in our life."..Thank you so much...Armand
ReplyDeleteThe should be a capital T
ReplyDeleteSays not say