(From the book Eternal Sobriety, Chapter 9, God’s Will, page 189,190)
As we progress in our principle-based 12-Step recovery program of A.A., we come to appreciate the need to seek God’s Will in our life. Step Three embraces our common need for God. The problem that most of us encounter is in not understanding what it means to turn our will and life over to the care of God. Initially, we may think that it means to start doing things the way we believe God would want us to, rather than the way we have been used to doing. Having no real experience in any meaningful relationship with God we probably also have no idea what He might want us to do. Be quick to see the connection between applying spiritual principles and doing it God’s way. The A.A. program and its principles offer a life-changing process that will give purpose and meaning to our life. It is a process that becomes life-long, and it begins with a decision.
God Either is or He Isn’t
The decision to let go and let God is made easier if we accept the existence of God as a real entity. The reason is simple. It would be difficult and irrational to turn over something as dear as our life to an imaginary concept or group of people. In the early days of the A.A. program there seemed to be little, if any, confusion about the meaning of “God” in the third Step phrasing “God as we understood Him.” Most people understood this entity to be the Judeo-Christian concept. This of course defined a supernatural being that created everything and had made His existence known to man. It is this Judeo-Christian concept that most alcoholics had in their belief system, as most religions in the United States had their foundation in the Bible. The alcoholic’s problem was simply a matter of not understanding Him. This realistic belief, that a loving God does exist, is a prerequisite in providing the right foundational willingness to turn our will and our life over to His care. It is not necessary to fully understand God when we begin this process, however we must believe that He does exist, and that He will intervene in our lives, if asked to. Our understanding of God will increase as we actively live the principles of our program and continually seek after a better understanding of Him and His Will.
The source of that understanding is of course – the Holy Bible. This is the top source for study and discussion during the 1935 to 1939 founding years of Alcoholics Anonymous. The origins of Alcoholics Anonymous and its principles can be traced back to the Oxford Group, a nondenominational Christian spiritual movement. The co-founders of A.A., Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith, were both associated with the Oxford Group prior to their meeting in 1935. The Oxford Group’s influence on the development of A.A. was substantial and both Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith attended their meetings. Bill Wilson wrote in the book “Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age” that early A.A. got its ideas of self-examination, acknowledging character defects, making restitution for harm done, and working with others straight from the Oxford Groups. These basic ideas along with the absolute need to surrender to God are fundamentally the basic principles of A.A. and they are biblical. They work because the source of the truths in the program are from the God who has all power. The real question then is “Do you have the truthful understanding of the God you should be embracing?
If you are new in the program, or returning from a slip, the most important thing you can do is to get the power of the real God. As it states on page 87 of the Big Book. “Be quick to see where religious people are right. Make use of what they offer.”