If you’ve come to the realization that you are, in fact, powerless over any behavior, there may be a distinct unease or even deep sadness that has overcome you. This is a good thing because if you have read my thoughts on Step One, you might remember that I promised that good would come from this journey. There is hope. So let’s just dive right in.

Step Two

• We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
• Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. – 2 Corinthians 1:9

While Step One is primarily about admitting that we have been defeated in our attempt to live happy, joyous, and free, Step Two is about discovering a Power that will enable us to do just that. In my experience, this is one of the more difficult steps to take, because it requires us to admit that we don’t know everything.

If you are like me, I came to this step and said, “Easy. I believe in God. I’m good!” It was a rude awakening when my therapist asked me how well that belief in God had been doing at keeping me from destroying my own life. But others of us get to this step, see “God” language and say “nope, I don’t believe in God; this won’t work.” If either of these is you, remember the honesty you needed to get to this point and practice it by saying out loud, “I don’t know everything.” That wasn’t so hard now was it? Keep it up, and get used to it, because that is a sentence that will allow you to continue to grow and experience new things for as long as you grace this earth with your presence. So let’s dig into this thing a little.

Getting over “The God Thing”

I thought I knew God. Some people don’t think God exists. Many people believe God exists, but don’t believe that the God I believe in is a God that they can get behind. We all come from different places with different experiences. I respect that as much as anyone.

Given that I’ve quoted from the New Testament, I think you can derive the nature of my faith, however this step, and I, are not telling you what to believe. All that you are required to find in this step about God is that you are not it. It’s really that simple. 

So getting over “The God Thing” is really just getting over yourself. It’s stepping out of the way and making room for some other power to step in and give you direction in life. For many, this power is supernatural. For some, it is merely the power of suggestions made by people who have gone through this process before. For all, it is precisely the kind of attitude that is needed to pave the way for meaningful change to happen.

What’s This About Sanity?

If you’ve spent any amount of time in the pit of addiction, the word insanity may not make you scoff too much. However, for many, this term might be a stumbling block. Insanity is simply trying to solve a problem with the same thinking that created it. That comes to you from Albert Einstein. Step One identified your actions as the problem. Step Two goes further and says that your thinking is also flawed. So, we need some new ideas, and those new ideas need to come from someone or something outside of ourselves.

In the Christian world, we’ve got a whole book of ideas, and libraries of books written about that book. Yet we seldom approach them with total willingness. We want help, but we want it on our own terms. We want to pick and choose what advice we take, to the detriment of ourselves and the world around us. This attitude towards Step Two will certainly not bode well for us in the end. We must become willing to accept help on the helper’s terms rather than our own. This is especially crucial for those who claim Jesus as Lord, for if we confess this fact, yet insist on only allowing his wisdom and truth to rule in our lives if it is convenient for us, then Jesus is not really Lord — we are. And the entire point of this step is to realize that neither you nor I am God. This hypocrisy is a type of insanity, and we are all guilty of it.

Time to Move

The action inherent in Step 2 is rather simple. It says that we “came to believe.” For some this is simply starting to pray to whatever might be out there. For others, it is praying to what you already believe in. For all, it is a conscious dialogue with ourselves that we are not the wisest, most powerful entity in existence, but that there is one out there who is. One who makes it their business to love, care for, and guide those who seek their counsel. This is a mind-opening step that will allow those who truly practice it to take the next step. While we once found ourselves powerless, having an open mind and exploring the world of spirituality allows us to tap into a wealth of power that was once ignored by our own self-delusion. 

When we finally decide to get out of the way we can move into a life of purpose and meaning, a life that seeks the will of God rather than our own selfish desires. And this is the reason that we can become hopeful. When we have exhausted all of our resources and come to the end of ourselves, only to find that we have come up empty in finding meaning in this mess, we are presented with an opportunity. We are now able to seek something greater, something that connects us to our fellows and connects us to God. We find that there is a new and infinite realm of possibilities, and we are invited to begin to explore them.