Trusting
Trusting God enough to trust another human being with what we have come to understand about our hurts, habits and hang-ups is a once for all step if honesty is the power undergirding it.
Hindsight showed me my initial reluctance to take the Fifth Step was pride, and ignorance — reluctance to be honest with another human being. I was saved and sober, why bring someone else into it?
This question showed me the Steps are a way of life – especially taking the Fifth Step.
When we admit to God, ourselves, and another person the exact nature of our wrongs, we have thrown open a window, turned on the lights and aired out a dank and scary place.
Sometimes it may take a while to see and name those wrongs that generated so much on our moral inventory. Thinking about how my moral inventory came to include what it did means sifting through words, actions, and thoughts without the rationalizations and excuses. The truth is
I am powerless over alcohol;
I can the same thing over and over, expecting a different outcome.
Powerlessness and insanity seep into many areas of my life. This has meant beginning at the beginning and admitting I was powerless over more than booze.
However:
If we have turned ourselves over to God, the God of the Bible, He gives us light and courage to keep digging. We need to see what trips us up, like low-self esteem, or pride; willful ignorance combined with self-indulgence coupled with laziness – or just plain old self-absorption. And we need to own it.
Ugh . . . turning over the rocks in our habits, and thoughts reveals unpleasant stuff; looking underneath our hang-ups may expose other painful things.
I struggled with following the suggested steps. I still do! But in the following suggested wise words:
Suit Up
Show Up and
Grow Up
The good thing about finding someone whom we trust to admit our wrongs is that we are not unique, and not as bad at being bad was we think we are. (The 12 & 12, page 61-61)
We can’t shock the One who knows what we are going to say before we say it. His goal is forgiveness, redemption, and new beginnings. (Psalm 103:12)
How are you doing?
Trusting the faith is yours, dear reader, that nothing can separate us from the Love of God in Christ – including our sin-sick silly selves, when we turn to HIM. See and savor, please Romans 8:38-39
Love in Christ,
Sober and Grateful
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