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
ReplyDeleteArmand, another great topic.
No matter how far along the path I have traveled, Gods will too often seems the diametric opposite of my own. Almost always inconvenient and never focused on what I think God should think is the right spin for the planet. Gods will always seems right as I prayerfully ponder it. My will is always surrounded by an overriding fear of the impending loss of some person, place or thing that I have invariably put in His place and placed upon the seat of His throne. Although my conscience readily agrees with Gods revelation, I become paralyzed by the fact that to overcome any newly revealed form of self slavery I’ve indulged in requires the deep humility and internal power I simply don't possess.
Divine will requires Devine power... and anything less is tantamount to trying to climb a rungless ladder with the expectation of reaching the top. The source of that power is clearly contained in the back half of Step 11, "praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out." That power has turned out to be, for me, the "grain of a mustard seed of faith" called "willingness.” Willingness at first to leap from the burning building of a misspent life and second, abandon all efforts to reenter it.
Willingness to make prayer, devotion and service the primary fuel for a life now centered on God's eternal paradigm. I am called to completely abandon my own best efforts and humbly seek Gods face through prayer and meditation on His Person and His Word .. Whenever I’m confused or conflicted, I first prayerfully burry myself in the Bible’s book of Proverbs. It is there that my present spiritual condition and the required solution is clearly revealed. For God ALWAYS blesses the humble and contrite heart...
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic many times I don't realize I am caught in self. The 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous helps me stay on track so that I may surrender at the foot of the cross...Thank you...Armand
DeleteMichael C.
ReplyDeleteIn the intellectual sense, I will never know, as that connotes a certainty of my thinking. In the spiritual sense, however, I will understand. For me, the critical difference lies in that distinction. Thus, applying language to the awakening of my spirit through the integration of all Twelve Steps into my life is inadequate at best. It is in the transmutation of my spirit from the person I wasn’t born to be to the person that I was born to be that the spiritual solution is defined for me. It is only through that salvific process that I understand. Gratefully, there are no words needed.
Michael forever gratitude for the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous...Thank you...Armand
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