2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Believing is not an overnight thing. It’s something you come to, and it may take time. Some come to faith quickly; others struggle. It’s a deeply personal thing. You can’t force it on anyone. This step is unique in that it states that before any action can take place on our behalf, we must come to believe that something could happen and someone exists to make it happen.
Last night we got ready and went out to a play. We have a lovely local theater here in our community and I sometimes will get us seats to two or three shows over the course of a season, if anything, just to force us to get out of the house and spend an evening together. Marti had to reschedule her discipleship group to do so, but everyone agreed this was important. I had the tickets before I realized how important Tuesday nights were. My BlogTalkRadio interview with Chuck Smith Jr.* had to be set earlier to accommodate our plans. Every time we do this, it takes some rearranging, but we are always so glad we did.
Now in order to have this evening together, we had to believe the theater was there, and that the play would go on when they say it would, and that our tickets would be honored. That’s a lot of faith to put forth, but we can be reasonably certain all will go well because we have found it to be a true and reliable source of entertainment.
Help comes by believing help is there. “Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
The play, by the way, was an interesting one about a woman who survived two repressive regimes collecting and preserving, in a museum, antique furniture and regular household items that survived Work War II and the communist rule in East Berlin. She made something special out of obvious things that increased their value in that so many of those ordinary commodities were destroyed in the war. Faith is a little like that too. It makes something special of the obvious — at least obvious to those who believe, so that they can help those who don’t believe yet by displaying their faith in front of them.
Having come to a place where we admit we are powerless to change, this step points to the fact that there is Someone who does have the power to change us. It’s not a leap of faith (that’s the next step); it’s an announcement of hope. Before God can help us, we must believe that He is there, and that He can.
*Our last two BlogTalkRadio shows are amazing interviews that shed a lot of light on the 12-Step program and church. Enjoy them now as podcasts. Two weeks ago we interviewed Andy Burnham, Recovery Pastor at Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California and last night, author and pastor, Chuck Smith, Jr.. Click on their names to link to their shows. It will help you get more out of this series.
Leave a Reply