Many alcoholics assume that faith usually means the former and not the latter. How often have you heard them say: It's God's will. Is it that we fear that if we take efforts to change things it would usurp God’s authority. Surely faith must require that we sit still and wait for our HP to act. Or does it ?

We have been tought to exercise two different levels of faith at various times. At one level we are to be inactive and wait patiently for our HP to move. Here faith involves believing that God will bring about a solution apart from any effort on our end. Yet just as frequently faith affirms our involvment in taking personal responsibility.

In reality, there can be just as much faith involved in taking personal initiative as there is in waiting passively for God to provide. It is right, then, to speak of a second level of faith that we are to demonstrate as recovering alcoholics. At this level we are active and assertive. We take initiative to find the answer to a need. And by moving forward we force ourselves to a dependence on God that wouldn't be possible if we merely sat still. Remember there is a Time to Be Passive, and a Time to Be Active.

While this distinction is interesting enough, it still leaves the question, when does our HP want us to operate at level 1 faith and when at level 2 ? Let me suggest this: If we are facing a seemingly insurmountable problem--a situation that we believe we are powerless to influence--we should stay at level 1 faith. Yet if there is a reasonable step we can take to improve things or to move toward a goal, then we should assume that God wants us to operate at level 2. When uncertain, think the Serenity Prayer.

We can expect, too, that taking initiative will often require us to express our convictions clearly--even to those who disagree with us--and that God will use our assertiveness to persuade people and open important doors for us. We should always listen carefully to the counsel others give us and be open to having our insights changed by theirs. Yet God will also use us to counsel others and to correct their misunderstandings.

Walking in faith requires that we assert ourselves. We can find the courage to do this if we believe that God will honour our efforts and that others will benefit from our initiative.

I would simply offer two cautions about taking personal initiative. One is that we should consider a step of faith only if we can pursue it without frenzy, within the time and energy limits our HP has given us, and without jeopardizing other commitments we have already made. The other is that our understanding of which steps of faith we should take should grow out of a regular time alone with God, where we carefully think through the direction of our life and what God wants us to do.

As we daily seek direction, we should feel great freedom to take bold initiative to find the best opportunities for using our gifts and building relationships. 

The fact is that God gives us much greater control to change the circumstances of our lives than we tend to think.