16 Feb 2022 Comments Off on Lesson 47 – God is the strength in which I trust.
Lesson 47 – God is the strength in which I trust.
Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)
“God is your safety in every circumstance. His Voice [the Holy Spirit within] speaks for Him in all situations and in every aspect of all situations, telling you exactly what to do to call upon His strength and His protection.” I notice that His Voice does not tell us what to do, but what to do to call upon God.
In Chapter 2, Jesus explains, “The correction of fear is your responsibility. When you ask for release from fear, you are implying that it is not. You should ask, instead, for help in the conditions that have brought the fear about. These conditions always entail a willingness to be separate. At that level you can help it.” It is difficult to believe that we are afraid because we have actively chosen to be afraid.
Jesus told Helen he could not remove her fear (read Absence from Felicity by Kenneth Wapnick) and that she should ask instead for help with the conditions that result in fear. The conditions are turning to the ego for guidance and the consequences of that choice: belief in sin, guilt and fear.
Fear is an effective ego defense against God’s Truth. As long as the ego distracts itself with fear, it need not know it doesn’t really exist. As the memory of God emerges from the shallow roots of the ego, which seem deep but in truth are not, there is the opportunity to shift our attention from distrust to trust, and weakness to strength. How?
Call upon God. Use the daily lesson to call upon God. Every day Jesus spells out for you how to call upon God. Use his tools. Today we are given, “God is the strength in which I trust.” When we practice this, we find out that God truly is our safety in every circumstance because circumstance is illusory and Reality is formless.
This kind of trust reminds me of a game my father played with me as a child — read my blogpost, “Who Is My Father?”.
LESSON 47
God is the strength in which I trust.
If you are trusting in your own strength you have every reason to be apprehensive, anxious and fearful. What can you predict or control? What is there in you that can be counted on? What would give you the ability to be aware of all the facets of any problem, and to resolve them in such a way that only good can come of it? What is there in you that gives you the recognition of the right solution, and the guarantee that it will be accomplished?
Of yourself you can do none of these things. To believe that you can is to put your trust where trust is unwarranted, and to justify fear, anxiety, depression, anger and sorrow. Who can put his faith in weakness and feel safe? Yet who can put his faith in strength and feel weak?
God is your safety in every circumstance. His Voice speaks for Him in all situations and in every aspect of all situations, telling you exactly what to do to call upon His strength and His protection. There are no exceptions because God has no exceptions. And the Voice which speaks for Him thinks as He does.
Today we will try to reach past your own weakness to the Source of real strength. Four five-minute practice periods are necessary today, and longer and more frequent ones are urged. Close your eyes and begin, as usual, by repeating the idea for the day. Then spend a minute or two in searching for situations in your life which you have invested with fear, dismissing each one by telling yourself:
God is the strength in which I trust.
Now try to slip past all concerns related to your own sense of inadequacy. It is obvious that any situation that causes you concern is associated with feelings of inadequacy, for otherwise you would believe that you could deal with the situation successfully. It is not by trusting yourself that you will gain confidence. But the strength of God in you is successful in all things.
The recognition of your own frailty is a necessary step in the correction of your errors, but it is hardly a sufficient one in giving you the confidence which you need, and to which you are entitled. You must also gain an awareness that confidence in your real strength is fully justified in every respect and in all circumstances.
In the latter phase of the practice period, try to reach down into your mind to a place of real safety. You will recognize that you have reached it if you feel a sense of deep peace, however briefly. Let go all the trivial things that churn and bubble on the surface of your mind, and reach down and below them to the Kingdom of Heaven. There is a place in you where there is perfect peace. There is a place in you where nothing is impossible. There is a place in you where the strength of God abides.
During the day, repeat the idea often. Use it as your answer to any disturbance. Remember that peace is your right, because you are giving your trust to the strength of God.
Let’s practice together! Watch and listen to Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube. Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.
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