Just Say Yes to God

There was a time for me when to stop ruining your life with alcohol seemed easy: Just don't do it. Until I was part of the disease, I didn't understand that the brains of alcoholics are different. Just saying no didn't work -- not without a higher power.

"Years ago, the First Lady of the United States challenged the youth of America to 'Just Say No' to drugs as she warned them of the dangers of drug use. When I first heard the expression, I thought, 'Does she really believe that this is all it's going to take to solve our drug problem?' However, in thinking about it further, I realized that this is the same kind of strategy the Church has used for years to try to keep people from sinning. We've told them to 'Just Say No' to illicit sex or alcohol or some other vice. But just saying no alone doesn't work. There must be something more appealing to which a person can say yes. A person must experience something that will offer him a greater pleasure than the allurements of sin....

'Drugs, alcohol, and other worldly pleasures are just demonic counterfeits for what people could experience in God's presence.... Ultimately, the only thing that will liberate the human heart from the slavery of sin is the supreme satisfaction found in God." (Enjoying God by S. J. Hill, https://www.sjhillonline.com/)

I take exception to the author referring to drinking as a sin and demonic. But I do agree that devotion to God is a necessary alternative to drinking. The need for God in our lives is made clear in AA's Twelve Steps:

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

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

God Could and Would and, For Me, Did

I couldn't have gotten well six years ago if not for Step Two and Three:

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

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

Some AA people say they have or had problems accepting the existence of and grace from a higher power. For me and countless others, Step Two and Three are essential for conquering the demon rum. Here is a post by Bruce Reaves from Recovered Alcoholics group Facebook site:

"God could and would if he were sought

"Not 'understood,' not even 'believed in,' just 'sought.' I was somewhere between agnostic and atheist when I came in. But I could see that SOMETHING was at work in the lives of the sober members of AA, and I decided to seek the help of whatever that was. THAT is God as I understand him. I turned my will and my life over to the care of that undescribable undefinable whatever-it-is and proceeded through the steps. I call it 'my buddy HP.' It's been working for over 40 years now."

Make God your buddy, too.

 In the Beginning, Man Created God

Nya nya! My God's better than your God!

I can't say I ever heard such a taunt on the playground or in the church parking lot before Sunday school. We can talk of a higher power, but I don't believe there is a highest power. One of the beauties of AA, I think, is that no one tells others what to believe in. Just believe in something! That isn't the way it was in church when I attended. There we were ordered to believe in the Bible and believe in their Lord, or we are sure to go to hell.

We talked about that this morning in my AA Big Book study group. I like what Chris said: "I believe God doesn't want us all to think the same and act the same. He has different roles for each of us. At the Ford plant, not everyone is painting the cars. Everyone has his own job to do so that the cars come out right."

Lori shared how she came to accept the God of her understanding. "My sponsor told me to make a list of all the characteristics of God. I was raised a Southern Baptist, so my list had mean, vindictive things on it. Then she had me write what I wanted God to be. My lists were different. The second had things on it like forgiving. She said that's the God you should pray to."

Step Three says, "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him." Bill's Story in the Big Book reads, "Why don't you choose your own concept of God? ... It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a Power greater than myself. Nothing more was required of me to make my beginning." (emphasis as it appears)

I wish I could have taken tests in school that were like taking tests of our faith. In the latter, there are no wrong answers. Give yourself an A.