I can’t count the amount of people I have heard throughout the years in meetings say “I can’t stand all the ‘God stuff’ in this program, or “the ‘God stuff’ really turns me off”
I get it, not everyone believes in God. Many people connect God to religion which they have become weary of. Others have grown up knowing only a punishing God and have learned not to trust in anything they cannot physically see or touch. And those who complain that there is a lot of ‘God stuff’ in the literature of AA and NA are correct, God is mentioned frequently. But if you stick with the program, you will come to understand why.
I had always believed in God, or what I thought was God, so when I was asked to turn my life and my will over to Him, I had no problem doing so. As a matter of fact, I was thrilled that I no longer had to deal with the mess I was making. I was more than happy to scoop up the disaster that was my life, place it in a box with a bow and hand it over. Here you go, God. Have fun and good luck!
However, I do understand that I am in the minority. Most people do not want to ask for help from an entity they don’t believe in, let alone turn their life and will over to it. The same phrases run through their minds; “No, thank you. I got this” Or “Why should I trust in something that isn’t real? That’s just crazy” Maybe it is, but all I can say is believing in something, ANYTHING, outside of yourself will make your journey to recovery easier.
The longer you stay in the fellowship, you come to understand that you are only asked to believe in a higher power, or a God of your understanding. The importance of this is to come to understand that we (the addict and/or alcoholic) cannot fight this disease without the help of a power greater than ourselves. Lord knows I tried, many times, to battle the beast alone and many times, I failed miserably. It wasn’t until I understood why I had to come to believe in a power greater than myself in order to move into recovery from my deadly disease.
Sometimes, when a sponsee I am working with, stumbles on the “God stuff”, I ask her if she trusts the program of AA. “Yes”, she’ll reply.
“Well, then use the group as your higher power. You see that it works, even if you may not understand how or why, it does.”
She can’t necessarily see what is happening in meetings, but she can feel the energy and love we carry. She trusts that we won’t steer her wrong and will instinctively know that we want her to succeed in her recovery. Eventually, she will understand that what she is witnessing is our higher power working through us and she will find her own. I don’t care what my sponsee’s call their Higher power, I just want them to recognize that they are not it.
One of my favorite sayings is:
“I can’t, God can, so I might as well let Him.”
Do yourself a favor and ask your HP to heal you from your disease. You don’t need to carry the weight of your disease and the mess it has made of your life. Scoop it up, put it in a box with a bow and hand it over to a power greater than yourself. Your HP will be more than happy to receive it and you’ll be able to focus on your recovery.
It’s a win, win.