"For I know the plans I have for you, " declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah29
"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." Prov 16
What is it about these scriptures?
First of all God has plans.
Secondly I have plans.
On pg 86 of the AA book, it says "we ask God to direct our thinking.."
My simple prayer over the years as been to get my will and my life in line with what God has in store. I have found that God has a better plan for me than the best I have for myself. I had all but destroyed my future with my alcoholism, but when I decided to turn to God He brought into effect the plans that He had for me. I have heard it said that the good is the enemy of the best.
It has been a tremendous comfort over the years to know that God has already made great plans for me. It also taught me that no matter what man does in this world, he cannot destroy what God has put in place.
"TRUST IN GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND LEAN NOT UPON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING."
Personally I like, well really like what you've shared here. However, it is too much on the religious side, and we need to keep our shares squarely on our experience related to alcoholism and our recovery from it utilizing the 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous here.
Also it could tend to send a very conflicting message to the newcomer, who is just now trying to find their way. We strongly encourage that they develope or utilize the concept of God, of their own understanding. We also encourage they turn their live and will over to the care of the God of their understanding.
Please try to understand I value what you've shared here. But... if we let one, we would have to let all, and before you know it, we'd have Muslims, Hindu's, Wickin's, Budist, and everyone else, sharing their scriptures, instead of their recovery from alcoholism and their experience with Alcoholics Anonymous. I am a man that truly finds value in the wisdom, and hope that many religiions promote, so to me personally at 22 years sober, it doesn't present an issue. But for the newcomer... it really could.
I will not edit or delete anything at this time, but I am asking that we try to refrain from using scripture as much as possible here. And carry, a message of hope to the newcomer that allows them to discover their own truth, their own God, their own Great Reality within.
I often want to share something from scripture... both Christian and Islamic, that just strikes me as words of Wisdom and Hope and I simply rephrase it here. Such as...
I would have said...
"I have read that God has a divine plan for each of us, plans that include propersity, that won't harm anyone, that will provide us with hope and a future beyond one we could create for ourselves..."
The message you are intending to deliver is still intact, without appearing to endorse, or promote a religious ideaology.
Hope you'll take heed, and not be offended, as it is in Love that I want to reach not only you today, but the newcomer as well.
Isn't it amazing that God can not only USE our horrid past, but that He can CHANGE our future when we submit and stop trying to play God??? This is really about Him anyway.... that's why it is called "history"-- HIS story, not Joni's..... thinking about it in this way makes it much easier to get me out of the "director" role......
__________________
~Your Higher Power has not given you a longing to do that which you have no ability to do.
Thank you Gonee for sharing. I notice you always said I, me, my...never "you" or "we". That makes all the difference to me, because I can appreciate and respect what you have shared of yourself and your God, yet without assuming that anyone else feels and believes the same, or should, and that is respectful of others. I have no problem with how you talked about your recovery from alcoholism in your own spiritual context. Nor would I with the alcoholism-focused share of a Buddhist, or Jew, or atheist, or Scientologist, as long as it relates to steps 2,3,5,6,7,and 11---the God/Higher Power steps.
How ironic that AA has evolved from such a religiously rooted group in the early thirties to a fellowship in 2012 where it is almost not OK to even talk about God and recovery without worrying about offending or scaring somebody. If one reads Proverbs 16: 2-3 which includes Gonee's quote, and verses 6-7, one may sees that these verses reflect Step 4 and Step 9. Jeremiah 29:11-14, the second quote, is all about hope, as begins in Step 2 and culminates in Step 12.
Page 60, 4th edition Big Book asserts: "That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism. That God could and would if He were sought."
I would hate to see a post deleted because someone is sharing their seeking of God to deal with their alcoholism. When I was a newcomer I had a terrible time with the God-thing, but that inevitably becomes just a great excuse to bail. As an atheist, when I took these steps as a program of recovery, I had to come to terms with the 50% of the steps that overtly reference God...and explicitly meaning the Christian God...as the history of AA indisputably documents. Those steps have not changed.
