SURRENDERING SELF-WILL

Step 3: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 34

No matter how much one wishes to try, exactly how can one turn his own will and his own life over to the care of whatever God he thinks there is? In my search for the answer to this question, I became aware of the wisdom with which it was written: that this is a two-part Step.

I could see many times where I should have died, or at least been injured, during my previous style of living, and it never happened. Someone, or something, was looking after me. I choose to believe my life has always been in God’s care. He alone controls the number of days I will be granted until physical death.

The matter of will (self-will or God’s will) is the more difficult part of the Step for me. It is only when I have experienced enough emotional pain, through failed attempts to fix myself that I become willing to surrender to God’s will for my life. Surrender is like the calm after the storm. When my will is in line with God’s will for me, there is peace within. (AA Daily Reflections pg. 77)

Stretch 1:
Think of a time this week when you are upset and do not like something that has happened.

• What did you do to being God into your problem and guide you to the solution?
• When did you see God making something impossible possible?

Stretch 2:

How will I try to express God’s will in all my actions and words towards others today?
How and by what specific means can I let God into my life?