Preparing for Action ~ STEP 3

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

 Step three is about making a decision to turn our will and lives over to God - (and additionally noting that it is “as we understand God”). In order to work this step and get maximum results, it is very important to gain a thorough understanding of both the definitions and concepts contained in it. Of the 12 steps, this particular principle is probably the most misinterpreted and misunderstood because it is often understood to mean that: (I) our “will” and “lives” are actually being turned over and (II) the reference to “as we understood Him” means a determination of “who” God is.  The result of this misunderstanding has often caused unnecessary frustration/confusion, preventing some from going any further in the 9 action steps that follow. We are going to look at a breakdown of this principle and by the end you will have a clear understanding of this step. 

Anytime we are about to take action in an area of our lives of any importance, it isn’t something that we just “impulsively” jump into blindly, but rather, we prepare by determining: (1)What it is that’s needing to be done AND  (2)What actions have to be taken to meet that need (a plan) 

The first thing to know is that Step 3 is the last of the “making up your mind” steps. What do I mean by that? Well, it is not until Step 4 that “action” begins being taken as part of what is called “Step Work”, as opposed to what is done in Steps 1-3. In these first 3 principles, (unlike those that will follow), we are in a process of: (a) gathering information and (b) making up our mind regarding the plan we are going to follow. 

The information that has been gathered in the first two steps is as follows:

 

STEP 1:           A personal lack of power in particular area(s) and the identification of unmanageability / damage the area(s) of life mentioned

STEP 2:           A choice has been made to suspect that God is present and that God could (if                                           invited) provide wholeness.

So let us now look at the first important word in Step 3 and that is the word:

Photo by Vladislav Babienko 

 Decision :  To gather facts involving a problem and then conclude which  facts we are going to act   upon. 

 Now that we have established what “made” us come “to” the decision, (past tense)… we look at what it is we’ve made the decision to do: To “turn our will and our lives over to the care of God”. To many who’ve been raised in, or attended the protestant or non-denominational churches – this sounds like an invitation for salvation. It is important to understand that while this doesn’t conflict with that invitation…this is not what is being referred to here. To better understand this, let’s take a closer look at word meanings:

Will                       is our thinking and direction 

Lives                      Is our actions 

Our actions come out of our thoughts: So if we want new lives, we will need new minds. We cannot be “self-directed” AND have a different life. We cannot have new minds on our own – this must come from God. For me to TRULY choose to give God my struggle(s) with _________________ I must first give up power, and for me to do this, I must FIRST decide to turn over my will (thinking).

 Our WILL & Our LIVES:   Our “lives” are our ACTIONS. Our “will” is our THINKING; So deciding to turn over our will and our lives means that we are turning over our thinking and our actions. Turning over our lives means to give up the old lifestyle that has not been successful. If we can give up our direction, we can then receive new direction – what was once unmanageable can become manageable!

 EXAMPLE:           Bad thinking                       Bad Action                        Bad life (painful area of our                                                                                                                           life that we can’t move past)

                                Good thinking                   Good Action                       Good life (the life we                                                                                                                                    desire to have)

 An important reminder: We are NOT actually turning over our “will” and “lives” at this point! If we could, wouldn’t we have done it a long time ago? Aside from simply the struggle of being “human” – there are a myriad of reasons that we struggle with turning over these two things to God. (Past hurts, mistrust, uncertainty, etc…) What we are doing in this principle is simply making a DECISION to turn our thinking and actions over, allowing GOD to then replace them with better thinking and actions.

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Before we finish with the last part of this principle, I want to bring attention to the word “care” – as in: We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God…

 Care       To be concerned or interested; To provide needed assistance or watchful supervision

When we are turning over our thinking, direction and actions over to “the care of God”, we are giving it:  (1) to our God, who is certainly concerned and interested in our well-being AND (2) to an infinite God – the ONLY one who can truly provide the needed assistance and supervision that we need.

Now we approach the final part of this principle - God as we understood Him (or of our understanding)

 As perhaps a person of faith, it can be easy to disregard this portion of the principle, because of thinking – “After all, if I already believe in God...I KNOW who He is!” But the truth is that this is not the only interpretation. It is important to know that although we may be in communion with Him…it does not necessarily mean that our understanding OF Him is where it needs to be in order to involve God in EVERY aspect of our life.

We do not believe or understand exactly like another person about ANYTHING. So our understanding of the personality of God can vary greatly and in most cases we need it to grow. Every single thing a person does, they do it through their individual conception, and our actions are greatly influenced by our conceptions.

 Conception        A notion; idea; concept

 EXAMPLE:    If my conception of God, (God as I understand Him), is that of a punishing and                                        vengeful God - I am likely not going to go to Him about areas of sin in my life; If my                              conception is that he is a busy God, I am likely not going to want to bother him with                                things I feel I can do myself; If my conception is that he is status update God…I will                              likely only go to him with my progress reports.

 Although most would widely accept that God (the Creator of all things seen and unseen) knows us, we tend to not know Him on a personal level nearly as much!

 EXAMPLE:  Have you ever had a best friend? Did they BEGIN as a best friend or did they begin as an acquaintance? How did they go from being an acquaintance to a best friend? Did it happen fast or take time? What had to happen between the two of you during that time to reach best friend status?

God ‘as we understand Him’, is referring to ‘as we understand Him now’ (today) – and being able to be REALLY honest with ourselves re: where we are at with that at this point. Our journey in the steps to come, is the same process that was needed for our acquaintance to become our best friend - and the process continues for the rest of our days. This is the MOST personal relationship you will ever experience in your entire life and I am THRILLED to tell you that these 12 principles allow you to begin developing it on a daily basis for the rest of your life!

 What to do:  (This is something you can work on in your own time and if you would like a prayer – see #3)           

1. Look honestly at both your current conception of God’s personality & what you want to have  

2. Are you ready to make a decision to rely upon God as your pursue the actions steps to come?

3. Prayer: Father – I desire to know you more intimately and it is my will that you would guide and direct me in the steps to come – so that I might better have you in charge of my thinking and actions – Thank you – amen

©2015-2023 Rebecca Balko