Trust in God
Key Principle: Decide to turn your will and your life over to the care of God the Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
This is step 3 in the addiction manual, and it is a very powerful step. Step 3 is the decision step. In the first two steps, we awakened to what we could not do for ourselves and what we needed God to do for us. In step 3 we are introduced to the only thing we can do for God. we can make a decision to open ourselves to Him and surrender our entire lives-past, present and future-and our will about our lives to Him. Step 3 is an act of agency. It is the most important choice we have to make.
Elder Neal A Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles made the following statement about this most significant decision: " the submission of one's will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God's altar. It is a hard doctrine, but it is true. The many other things we give God, however nice that may be of us, are acturally things He has already given us, and He has loaned them to us. But when we begin to submit ourselves by letting our wills be swallowed up in God's will, then we are really giving something to Him."
President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve described his decision to yield his will to God and the freedom that decision gave him: "Perhaps the greatest discovery of my life, without question the greatest commitment, came when finally I had the confidence in God that I would loan or yeild my agencyto him-without compulsion or pressure, without any duress, as a single individual alone, by myself, no couterfeiting, nothing expected other than the privilege. in a sense, speaking figuratively, to take one's agency, that precious gift which the scriptures make plain is essential to life itself, and say, "I will do as you direct," is afterward to learn that in so doing you possess it all the more.
On step 3 of the recovery program the truth is faced that recovery is far more the result of the Lord's efforts than the individual. He works the miracle when we invite him into our lives. Step 3 is a decision to allow God to recover and redeem us. It is the decision to allow him to direct our lives, remembering, of course, that He always respects our agency.
Alma 5:13
Revelation 3:20
When dealing with addictions and other situations it may be hard to turn the problem over to the Lord. we may relapse and feel guilty, feeling that He will be disappointed in our inconsistency and the He will withdraw his support. He won't!
As we give up the addictions and turn our entire will and life over to God, you will find he is patient and accepting of our faltering efforts to surrender to Him in all things.
Our ability to withstand temptations is now grounded in our continual submission to the will of the Lord. We express our need for the power abailable to us through the Savior's Atonement, and we begin to feel that power within us, fortifying us against the next temptation. we have learned to accept life on the Lord's terms.
As Elder Maxwell observed, this submission to the Lord is hard doctrine. It requires us to rededicate ourselves to His will at the start of each day and sometimes every hour or even from moment to moment. As we are willing to do som we find the grace, or enabling power, to do what we could not do for ourselves.
Continued submission to God's will reduces strife and brings more meaning to our lives. Traffic jams don't upset us, we don't fear our creditors. We accept resonsibility for our actions; we treat others as we would like to be treated. Our eyes, our minds and our hearts are finally open to the truth that mortality is challenging and that it will always have the potential to bring us sorrow and frustration as well as happiness.
Each new day you recommit yourself to the Lord.
There are Action steps to help us stay on the correct path, such as:
Attend sacrament meeting; review and renew baptismal covenants.
Decide to trust and obey God; change what you can chage; accept what you cannot change.
Mosiah 24:15
the Lord couldn have removed the burdens of Alma and his people; insteazd, He strenghened them to bear "their burdens with ease" Notice they did not complain but submitted cheerfully and patiently to the will of the Lord.
Helaman 3:35
this verse discribes a people who yielded their hearts to God. How can fasting strengthen our ability to yield our heart to God and abstain for addiction?
Consider the importance of praying in the moment of tempation. Now, let's say we are all shopaholics. What are some things we could pray about during the temptation that would allow Christ to help us?
Mosiah 29:20
To humble yourself is a decision you make. Satan may try to get you to believe that although God help others, He won't help youbecauase you are helpless or hopeless. Recognize this lie for what it is. In truth, you are a child of God.
Alma 7:23
Step 3 is a choice. Recovery happens by God's power, but only after you choose to seek his help. Your decision opens the channels for his power to flow into your life.
Consider how humility, patience and gentleness are all choices. The last quality listed in the scripture is gratitude.
How does gratitude help you to be humble>
Mosiah 3:19
We need to become as a child.
Luke 22:41-42
In this prayer, the Savior demonstrated His willingness tosubmit to the Father. He expressed His desires but then humbly did the will of His Father.
Consider the blessings of being able to tell God your feelings. How does knowing that He understands your reluctance, your pain, or whatever you feel help you say, "Thy will be done" and mean it?
Sisters, I hope you realize that Heavenly father loves each and every one of us. It is never too late. We need to trust in him and turn ourselves over to His living arms.
