Trust in God and Clean House

[RufusACanal]

"It is not the matter of giving that is in question, but when and how to give. That often makes the difference between failure and success. The minute we put our work on a service plane, the alcoholic commences to rely upon our assistance rather than upon God. He clamors for this or that, claiming he cannot master alcohol until his material needs are cared for. Nonsense. Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this truth: Job or no job - wife or no wife - we simply do not stop drinking so long as we place dependence upon other people ahead of dependence on God.

Burn the idea into the consciousness of every man that he can get well regardless of anyone. The only condition is that he trust in God and clean house."

[Tazman53]

Rufus you know Experience taught me how true that really is, my family was in the process of leaving my sorry drunk butt in less then a month when I went into detox. In my alcoholic mind I figured that my going into detox would stop that train from moving when I told my wife I was going into detox!

She flat out told me "We will see, it may be too late." For a second I was crushed, then the fear of death.... my death came to the forefront of my mind and I realized that no matter what I had to get sober or die.

This experience has allowed me to tell 3 of my sponsee's flat out that they need to make sure they are getting sober for them selfs and that if they lose thier wife/fiancee that they needed to be prepared for that. I also share with them that my first sponsors wife left him after he had been sober for 2 years.... he stayed sober! In a nutshell I make sure they are aware that staying sober can not be dependant upon other people or things. So far they have all stayed sober.

[nandm]

I love this passage because it is so true and I find I have more serenity when I follow it.

Our lives depend upon finding a Power greater than ourselves by which we may live. Our first priority must be to find this Power. Material and physical well-being can only follow our spiritual progress. If we continue to place the cart before the horse we will never get anywhere.

First we recover spiritually, then we recover mentally, physically and materially. First we rely upon God then we are given the strength to overcome our problem. Our real problem is that we have restricted our access to any power other than our own by our selfish and self-centered outlook upon life. Washed up upon the rocks of self-reliance we founder.

[Music]

Having faith that there is a God is a whole different thing than having trust in God. Looking back, I always knew there was God, I just didn't want to acknowledge his power, love and way of life. Trusting in the power of God, that God is love and that the only reason I'm sober today is because I've tried to learn a way of living that included God in my life is a daily practice. This is why I practice the AA program. I'll never get it down perfect.

[Boleo]

Bill Wilson said the 12 step program could be summed up in 6 words:

"Trust God, Clean House, Help others."

I say the program can be summed up in 5 keystrokes:

H + B = S

Humility (a clear recognition of what & who we really are)
Benevolence (love and service)
Serenity (the deluxe edition of sobriety)