The biggest difference between you and God is God doesn’t think he’s you.” – Ann Lamont
A number of years ago, I read a book by Ernest Kurtz that has become kind of the definitive history of the AA movement—Alcoholics Anonymous. And he calls his book “Not-God,” because, he said, the fundamental problem alcoholics have is that way down deep, they refuse to acknowledge limitation, weakness, being finite, being fallen. I love that title. He said alcoholics tend to live under the delusion that they are in control of everything, when the truth is, they can’t even control themselves. “And so,” he writes, “fundamental to the recovery process is that healing and sanity begin with a single realization that I am not God,” simple as that sounds. “I am not God. I’m not in control of my universe. I often cannot even control myself. I violate my own values. I want to do one thing, and then I do something else.”
This “I am God” illusion is not limited to alcoholics. We all struggle with it. We all have this problem. The key to change and growth and transformation is to admit that I have weaknesses and limitations. I need help from a power far greater than myself. I am not God.
You know what was behind the very first sin ever committed? The serpent says to the woman in the Garden of Eden in the Book of Genesis: “When you eat this fruit, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God.” It was the first temptation. “You’ll be master of your own universe. You don’t have to bend the knee. You don’t have to submit to somebody else’s wisdom. You can get away with flouting the moral law of the universe. You will be like God.” People have been falling for that one a long time. “You’ll be like God.” This is at the heart of sin and spiritual confusion. It’s amazing how confused we get over this one single principle.
Do you want to change and be transformed? Are you sick of committing the same sins over and over again? The first step in the spiritual growth process is to admit that you are not God and that you need a power greater than yourself to restore you to sanity. Jesus will move in your life as you give up control and realize that He can be God in your life.