Step 3 states: Made a decision to turn our will and lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. Special emphasis is on the last part, ‘as we understood Him.’ Bill W. didn’t rush into God, for the benefit of the ones, such as I, who had come to the program thinking that God was a punishing, judging God. As well as those who may have a faith that is not Christian. Recently, we talked about the Power greater than ourselves that we were coming to believe could restore us to sanity. Our action step would be to turn our will and life over to the care of this Higher Power. Turning our will and life over is another way of saying surrender.
Today, we are going to start on how we get to this point of, not only hoping that this is true but actually knowing, feeling, and accepting the fact that this is true. Surrender was always something that I refused to do to anyone or anything. It was just never thought of as an option. We see the positive demonstrations every day when we open our eyes and hearts to what is actually going on around us. People at the meetings who were just as lost as I was are actually finding a way to feel blessed. To be alive. To be learning more about how to live Happy, Joyous, and Free and not just exist.
How did I do this? God, to me, was a judgmental, punishing God in human form. He was “Up there in heaven or some such.” Why would I surrender to this God? I soon realized that there was a Power that was ready, able, and willing to help. It was located in my own heart. I decided to surrender to this Power so that I could feel good about myself. As soon as I did this, my life immediately became better, much better. Not only did I feel better about myself, but I noticed that other people seemed to be better too. What a bonus!
Also, I wanted to feel even better so I looked deeper into Spirituality. I discovered that there was a connection between my body and my emotions. This led to taking better care of my body with the added bonus of physical and emotional well being increasing rapidly. The better I felt emotionally, the better I felt physically and so the better I felt emotionally. I would have never been able to attain any part of this great feeling without the surrender to my Higher Power, who I now call God.
I have heard the saying “God is my copilot.” My reply is “No, way. God is my pilot and I am just along for the ride.” What a ride it is! This was the beginning when I first started learning that I must not only know what humility is but that it is a necessity in my life if I want to be Happy, Joyous, and Free. I have come back to this step whenever I begin to feel out of sorts about anything. I discover that, if I am feeling out of sorts, I have taken back from God a portion of what I had turned over to Him. Returning to Step 3 has NEVER failed me when I am honest with myself. By returning to Step 3, I surrender my will and life back. It ALWAYS works for me.
Also, since discovering that my emotional, physical, and Spiritual health are tied so closely, I have taken much better care of my body. This has led to remaining quite fit physically. I actually have become much stronger emotionally. My physical body has 81 years of wear and tear on and in it and some of the physical parts are starting to show wear. I rarely am ill or depressed, and then only shortly. How do I get over physical or emotional depressions? I use the shortened version of this 3rd Step and say “God help me” and turn it over. Then my Higher Power does each and every time!
I am also a strong believer in affirmations. Just saying them works wonders. Soon, I began to see that these affirmations were coming true so I say them with the true conviction that they are true. Affirmations such as “The power and perfection of God flow through me constantly and keep me in superb health.” “I am strong and vibrant.” “I am filled with the life and love of God.” “God is working through me.” “I have dominion over my thoughts, actions, and emotions.” “I am inspired by Divine guidance and wisdom.” Why do I do this? Because it makes me feel good and I see it working in my life each and every day.
When wondering why I sometimes may get into a funk, I just try to figure out where I am working my program wrong. It ALWAYS has come back to the 3rd Step. I turn my will and my life over to the care of God and then take back a small part of it for whatever reason. I remember what my original sponsors strongly advised me years ago. They said to use the shortened version of the 3rd Step, I do. This is done by simply saying “God, help me!” And He does!
If it works for this formerly very large, very angry, very violent, very frustrated, well armed man, IT CAN AND WILL WORK FOR YOU. It is not always easy but it is really very simple. Just say, with humility, “God, help me,” and step back, get out of His way, and let Him.
This brings the question – Are you ready to turn your will and life over to your Higher Power?
More can be found on our other pages. We have an AA Zoom meeting, blogs, and a podcast. Also our Facebook page. They are updated regularly. We hope that you will join us on these sites. And please comment so that we can share with each other our experiences, strengths, and hopes. The Zoom meeting is every Monday through Friday, 3:00 PM EST. Meeting ID is 6035280704. Password 399778. It is simple to locate the blogs and Facebook pages. Just search @Spiritualityandrecovery. For the podcast, search Spotify.com for Spiritualityandrecovery. On iPhone say “Hey Siri, Play the podcast Spiritualityandrecovery.” Or, “Hey, Google. Play the Jim Boylan podcast.”
