Lily

Good post. I didn't either, but then I read this book called "Trusting God" by Jerry Bridges and it really helped me big time for the first time to REALLY let go....

This is a Christian book, but maybe you can find a booklet that is geared toward your HP if he is defined in a traditional sense?

I think it is super hard to trust and let go and I struggled for 22 yrs, then somehow everything came together for me at the same time, I met w/ my pastor, the BB, that book, along with an old tape series someone GAVE me at a garage sale....it was a miracle cuz i was such a control freak before.

Prayers for you to really trust and be able to let go.....

blessings, Lily

Tosh

The way I work step 3 and turn my will and my life over is to do Steps 4 through to 12.

miamifella

This is really a crux. I got into trouble when I started planing for the future. I was told that worrying about financial insecurity showed that I did not have faith in the promises.

But I think that you have to work to keep yourself safe rather than trusting that god will do it all for you. Both in the short term and long term, even if it goes against the program. And truthfully, even though you are told that a higher power will always keep you safe and that you should live life one-day-at-a-time without planning for the future, most people in the program for any length of time do not live up to this part of the program. You cannot live life looking for external forces to take care of you at ever juncture.

Tosh

I read somewhere...

"Don't go asking God for potatoes if you haven't got a hoe in your hand!"

neferkamichael

God, no god, whatever. You'll stay sober if you "want" to be sober.

Kelltic

I define higher power as the force of good in the universe & karma. My sponsor really helped me understand my struggle with step 3 - I want to be in recovery for 15 years already and do all the steps immediately.

I need to let go and trust that things will unfold as they are meant to. SURRENDER is the key word for me. I'm on the path but I'm not the one steering...

also, the more I open myself to the good in the universe, the more I will SEE it and the less I will pity myself and feel like a victim. I'm getting the tools to cope with life in a healthy manner. Bad things may happen, but I can cope, so my life is infinitely better than when I was an active drunk.

I see my higher power as I understand it at work in my choice of a home group (kind of randomly chose it, but it is the right place) and the way the woman who is now my sponsor sat behind me at a meeting a few days ago and introduced herself.

MythicalUtopia

I think that step three can be difficult to grasp, as I had a hard time with it as well. But it's giving your will over to your Higher Power. It's praying to your HP to help give you the strength and the will to deal with your problems in a healthy manner. It is trusting that things happen for a reason. The serenity prayer is a great example of this

Open your heart the best you can. It can be a process sometimes for some people! But you can do it!

hamabi

"so im supposed to work hard and trust that god will handle everything else
is that it-step 3
i prayed yesterday and even tonight but i just dont believe god will ALWAYS be there and ALWAYS keep me safe"

Not sure how anyone could know with certainty about the ALWAYS part. Maybe the best you'll get is OCCASIONALLY. Or perhaps just EXCEEDINGLY RARELY.

But since doing life the other way was such a disaster, what do you have to lose? As the years tick off for you sober, if you ever feel shortchanged you can always resume running the universe.

sugarbear1

I made a decision to to turn my will and my life over to the care of a power greater than I and moved on to step 4.

sugarbear1

... I asked my sponsor, "If saying the words doesn't turn my will and my life over to God, how do I do it?" He smiled and said, "That's what Steps Four through Twelve are: the way to turn our whole lives - past, future, and present - over to God."
- A Hunger for Healing, p. 53

NoelleR

Let's remember....Step-3 does NOT say to turn our will and our lives over to the care of.....whomever/whatever; Step-3 only says to make a decision to do so.

(o:
NoelleR

Fernaceman

I was confused by this for a second, sb, lol. I actually went to p.53 of my big book to look for this quote. It's still early, k?

BUT I did see one of my favorite lines on p. 53 of the BB, "When we became alcoholics, crushed by a self-imposed crisis we could not postpone or evade, we had to fearlessly face the proposition that either God is everything or else He is nothing. God either is, or He isn't. What was our choice to be?"

EternalQ

Error

tomsteve

welp, lets look at this:
The first requirement is that we be convinced that any life run on self-will can hardly be a success...


So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making.

This is the how and why of it. First of all, we had to quit playing God. It didn't work. Next, we decided that hereafter in this drama of life, God was going to be our Director. He is the Principal; we are His agents. He is the Father, and we are His children

When we sincerely took such a position, all sorts of remarkable things followed

We were now at Step Three. Many of us said to our Maker, as we understood Him: "God, I offer myself to Thee-to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy will always!" We thought well before taking this step making sure we were ready; that we could at last abandon ourselves utterly to Him.



so, what does this tell us? does it tell us we are only making a desicion to do so or is it telln us we do it?

sugarbear1

A Hunger for Healing, p. 53

different book....

Leadfoot

Made a decision falls a little short of the actual act of turning our will and our life over to the care of God. So we made a decision? Now what?

Somewhere in the third step we're supposed to say a prayer. The book gives us an example but allows us the ability to use the wording of our choice. Keep in mind the third step is not the prayer itself, but the actions suggested on Pg 62 and moving on to Pg 63

Here's the action based on our decision

From AA Big Book, First Edition Pg 63
See? Step four is the first step in acting on our decision. Then we move on to Steps 5-6-7.

Once we get to the seventh step we say another prayer. In the book we'll see some similarities between the third step prayer and the seventh step prayer. We'll also see one difference that stands out. The seventh step prayer has an "Amen" on the end where the third step prayer doesn't

To me the process of turning the decision we made into a done deal is now complete.

That's Leadfoots take on the matter.

Bubovski

Several months on an atheist forum turned me more towards God.

While I follow no particular religion, I look to my own God which involves the higher ideals I feel strongly about.

I find this much better than the Big Bang theory and Darwinian materialism.

stepping

When you stop drinking you can focus on the life He MEANT for you; the will that was destind to you; not the one you were clouding with alcohol. We tried to be the manager; got cocky and left no room for God to do His work through us as we tried to run the show. Step back and let God be the manager. He has always wanted to. We just never took the time to ask Him to lead us. We let him do that in this step! You must ALWAYS BELIEVE and you will always receive what is INTENDED TO BE by Him!

Mcribb

I had trouble dealing with the fact that some dude in the sky was going to protect me and take care of my troubles, but I said whatever...and moved on with the steps. I just pray a ton and try to think like my sponsor thinks because he seems to do ok for himself. I haven't drank yet and I am happy some of the time.