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 had always believed in God. I believed in God even while I was living the life of an alcoholic -- 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 gives us. The incorporation of the steps of such a program into our lives begins the break down of 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 which 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 but trust is essential.
TRUST IS THE KEY COMPONENT OF BELIEF.
Over my years in the program of recovery, the word Trust has become the linchpin for spiritual growth, service and self-understanding. I needed a word, a thought, a concept from which to strengthen and grow in my non-drinking life. It occurred in Step Two where I came to believe that to acquire a Power by which to be guided and loved, I would have to practice the remaining Steps as enthusiastically as possible. For me, that meant finding a knowing sponsor who walked in recovery and not simply spoke palliative program words. Further, I had to re-commit my energy to incorporating all Twelve Steps into my life in a way that they would literally become my life. And I had to take action in the service of other sufferers, regardless of what sacrifice that meant making. Through that Process I found and developed a personal relationship with The Power Within me who awakened me to the greater part of me. I learned that I must keep my head in the clouds with Him but that my feet must be firmly planted on earth. That is where I would meet my fellow travelers, and that is where my work must be done. Yes, I learned that I must trust myself through The Power Within. The ultimate gift of this transformative journey.
ReplyDeleteMichael to trust in a power greater than ourselves takes humility and humility is the key that unlocks the door to the grace of God...Thank you...Armand
DeleteThis Comment Is From A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic
ReplyDelete"We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity"...Even from the earliest moments of my having attained the "age of reason," knowledge of the will of God had never been a problem. Trusting that by following His will I would have a joyful and pleasant life experience 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 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 that haunted every waking moment of my life. That is until I discovered alcohol... 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 had grown to despise.
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 humbles themselves and musters the mere willingness to believe. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2: 8-9). To anyone who has ears to hear be of good cheer! For He stands at the doorway of your heart right now - 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 forever and ever. Amen...
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic belief is necessary but trust in God is essential if i am to recover...Thank you...Armand
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