| |
The Twelve Steps:
A Guide for Living Faithfully
This is the third in a series of comments by members of the
Faith Partners ministry at House of Hope on the Twelve
Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, how they serve as the basis
for recovery from many addictions, and the application of
these steps to people of Faith.
The third step of Alcoholics Anonymous is: “Made a decision to turn our will and our
lives over to the care of God.”
“Vanity, vanity, all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2)
For many of us in recovery, the following scenario occurred: As we observed the
world, our ego saw things it wanted: money (and the things it would buy), power, prestige,
fame, glory, beauty, strength. Our ego told us: “obtain these and you will be
happy”. We worked hard, we obtained these, but we were not happy. Our ego told us,
“you don’t have enough: work harder, obtain more, and you will be happy. Let me take
over your life, and I will bring you success.” We agreed. We didn’t have enough. We
needed more. We allowed the ego to take over. But the ego needed fuel to sustain it, so
we turned to our addictions such as alcohol, other drugs, food, sex, work. These fueled
the ego in its drive for promised success and happiness. (In AA, this is known as selfwill
run riot.) But in the process, we found we were discarding that which had been
important to us: our relationships with God, our spouse, our children and our good
friends. We also found that we compromised our integrity and honesty, and we had
hardened our hearts. And guess what? We were not happy.
“Father, if it is possible, take this cup of suffering from me.
But not My will, but Thine be done.” (Matthew 26:30)
With this passage, Jesus teaches us by His example what it means to turn our lives
and our will over to the care of God. Our lives on earth are not our own. They are wonderful
gifts from God, and we do well to remember that and seek to know what we can
do to repay His generosity. Being grateful to God for our life and all our blessings is
necessary before we can turn our will and our lives over to God’s care.
God’s grand design for our lives is in God’s mind only and is not for our understanding.
But there is one basic principle which we know is in accord with God’s will: we will
seek to do the next right thing. And where the next right thing is not apparent to us, we
pray for God’s guidance to help us discern the next right thing. Finally, we leave the
outcome of our actions up to God, trusting in God’s divine providence and loving
mercy. We are responsible only for the effort, not the result.
Does this bring us happiness? Perhaps. Happiness is not something that we achieve,
as in “climbing the ladder of happiness” to the highest happiness rung. Happiness is a
by-product of trying our best to live our lives the way we believe God wants us to live
them. In so doing, we discovered that with the help of God’s grace, our integrity was
restored, and our relationships with God, family and friends were healed. Many of us in
recovery have found this to be true.
“See that no one pays back wrong for wrong, but at all times make it
your aim to do good to one another and to all people. Be joyful always,
pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants
from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 15-18)
—Larry Koll, Co-chair
Faith Partners Ministry at House of Hope
|
