Step 3 - Taking a Leap of Faith and Trusting God

Step 3 – Made a decision to turn our wills and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.

I will be the first to admit that I had zero understanding of this step. On the surface it sounds easy enough; as the slogan says “Let Go and Let God.” But what exactly does that mean? I had a certain anxiety about God. I thought at best I was God’s personal jester; a puppet to be played with when He needed a laugh. How could I trust Him with my life?

The Big Book and 12 x 12 point out that faith in a Higher Power was critical to the effectiveness of the rest of the steps. Like many others, I turned to the religion of my upbringing for greater clarity. However, I wanted nothing to do with religion. I wasn’t trying to be saved, delivered or anything else religion promises. I did not wish to be a goody two-shoes either, but I did want to be sober.

Like any good alcoholic, I tend to overthink things. The 3rd Step was no exception. The idea of God’s will was an abstract mystery. The concept is deeply rooted in religion, but if I was not a true believer how could I know God’s will? I thought such knowledge is only reserved for saints and holy people, not for those like me.

A step meeting pointed out to me that Step 3 was about making a decision to trust God with my recovery. It’s a choice to either have faith or continue in my old ways. My decisions, my choices and the chaos I caused almost killed me. Life according to my will was a disaster that ripped through the lives of everyone close to me. It was easy to see how egotistical and skewed my thinking and actions were. And they were not very conducive to staying sober. I needed to get out of my own way; to stop thinking and start trusting. An old sponsor put it to me this way. If my actions only benefited me, chances were I was not doing God’s will. I needed to learn to be less self-centered and be of greater service to others. God’s will has little to do with be religious and everything to do with being a better person. This provided me the motivation I needed to finally turn it over.

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