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Text: Proverbs 3:5-6

In the 2003 movie Master and Commander Russell Crowe stars as Captain "Lucky" Jack Aubrey and Paul Bettany as the ship's doctor Stephen Maturin. The movie was based on the twenty book series by Patrick O'Brian, which I am proud to say I finally completed reading. The books are set during the Napoleonic Wars and in one episode, the doctor is accidentally shot.

Of course, there was only one doctor on board the ship. So Dr. Maturin decides to perform surgery on himself. Jack Aubrey holds a mirror and the doctor bravely removes the bullet from his side. The matter is "touch and go" for a while, but in the end, the doctor fully recovers.

Performing surgery on oneself is the stuff of movies, not real life. It was a far-fetched bit of movie adventure, but I suppose it is possible. It seems that I have heard of some similar events, but I don't recommend it.

For the average person, it would clearly be insane to suppose that we could perform surgery on ourselves. But that is effectively what we do when we attempt to manage our own recovery.

Far wiser is the patient who turns the scalpel over to a real doctor. I have noticed that doctors take pride in not doing their own "doctoring." Most doctors turn to someone else to treat them.

And we must do the same thing, not only in medicine but in recovery. The real solution is to turn the scalpel over to God, our higher power.

In earlier sermons, I have talked about the first two of the Twelve Steps to recovery. The first was, "We admitted we were powerless over the effects of our separation from God and that our lives had become unmanageable." The second was, "We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." Today I want to write about the third step which says, "We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him."

This step says in essence, "Quit playing God." Many of us are guilty of presumption when we attempt to manipulate every circumstance of life for our good. We take on roles for ourselves that we don't need.

Imagine a play where the actors try to do the directing and the acting. It is true that sometimes that is done by famous actors, but that is clearly not the best method. There are actors in a play and a director. The actor's job is to do what the director says. The actor is not supposed to direct. The play runs smoothly when each one does their part.

We are like actors in a play who are also trying to direct the play. Using this analogy for our lives, we are the actors; God is the director. Life runs well when we let God be God.

Our first step is to recognize that we genuinely need help. The second is to realize that God, or a higher power, is needed to help us. The next logical step is to let that higher power take charge.

Jeremiah 29:11-14a says, "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the LORD"

But letting go is not an easy decision. It really requires that we abandon ourselves to God. When we abandon ourselves to God, we are giving over the reins of our life. We let God have control.

My recovering friend says that it is more than surrender to God. It is as if we are not involved in our lives anymore. We have made a mess of things, so it is time to give someone else a chance to do better. He says, "We turn our lives over to God, and the rest is none of our business." God becomes the one directing our lives, and we are just along for the ride.

Jesus said, "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).

Just think of the freedom there. We don't have to worry so about our lives, because God can do the worrying. God is in control. If we merely do what God says, then we have nothing to worry about.

The Bible has many examples of people deciding to follow God's will even when it didn't make much sense.

Noah abandoned himself to God. He decided to do God's bidding when he built an ark. It looked like a foolish thing to do at the time. There had never been a flood, and here he was building a boat on dry land. Imagine the ribbing he took from his neighbors and friends. It seemed a ridiculous thing to do, but God was in control. So Noah built an ark and saved humanity in the process.

Abraham abandoned himself to God. He was called to go to an unknown land, a place he had never been before. But Abraham was willing to let God be the director and the navigator. He packed up his family and abandoned his future to God.

Moses abandoned himself to God. He didn't want to be a leader of Israel against the world's greatest superpower. But after some hesitation, he decided to let God be in charge. He led the people through the wilderness without a clue where they were going. He awoke each day and followed the cloud on the horizon and the fire by night. Moses abandoned himself to God.

Jesus abandoned himself to the Father when he prayed what I have called The Perfect Prayer, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want."

These are only a few of the examples of men and women who abandoned themselves to God. They decided to quit playing God themselves and let God be in charge. And that decision made all the difference.

The Moses story especially fits because it describes the daily nature of following God. It was a cloud by day, a pillar of fire by night. We don't have to know the whole way out of the wilderness. We only have to follow the cloud today. One day at a time. That's the way recovering people do it. And that is the way we have to do it. One day at a time, we turn our lives over to God. Just for today. We can do that.

One other aspect of recovery is their commitment to progress, not necessarily perfection. I suspect this is an important key to success. They are wise enough to know that they can't reach perfection, certainly not in one step. So they are committed to progress, not perfection.

Anyone can make progress, even if it is just a baby step. A small step in the right direction is twice as good as a small step in the wrong direction.

Some of us make the mistake of expecting instant perfection. We want to make one decision that will decide the rest of our lives. That seldom happens, and almost never happens in my life. The best we can hope for is progress. We have to decide every day to commit our lives to God.

Paul wrote to the Romans, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect."

Step Three is the first action step. It requires a conscious decision to turn our lives over to God. In the Bible, the word for this turning of our lives is repentance. Repentance doesn't mean "feeling sorry;" it means "turning." It means turning our lives around and going in the direction that God wants for us. The danger for all of us is that we will resist the need to turn.

I remember reading somewhere instructions on how to boil a frog. Never put a live frog in hot water, or it will immediately jump out. No one likes hot water. So if you can't put a frog in hot water, how do you boil a frog?

A frog can successfully be boiled if the water begins at room temperature. The frog will gladly settle into the nice water. When the heat is slowly applied to the water, the temperature rises ever so slowly. The frog is never alarmed at the gradually increasing temperature of the water, until finally the water is boiling, and the frog never jumped.

There is an obvious parallel here with our lives. I suspect that is the way it is with us and the way our life spirals slowly out of control. We have gradually made this mess of our lives, and the water is getting hotter and hotter. But it does so gradually, and we never make the decision to jump out.

If we were to jump from our previous state into the current mess, we, like the frog, would jump immediately. But we have slowly heated the waters of our life. And if we don't make a conscious decision to jump, we will be boiled alive. But we have been lulled into complacency. Something is needed to help us make the decision to turn our lives over to God.

It is high time to turn our lives over to the one who can manage them. Proverbs says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

The poem "Footprints in the sand" is so familiar that it has become a cliché, but it still has a very good point. Sometimes we walk hand in hand with God, but sometimes God carries us. The last line says, "During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

The following prayer is found in the "Big Book" related to step three:

"God, I offer myself to you - to build with me and to do with me as you will. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do your will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of your power, your love, and your way of life. May I do your will always!"

Step Three means that we abandon ourselves utterly to God. Paul wrote, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:19-20).

When we do that we can say with all who are recovering:

"We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him."