OA - Step 2 and 3

Step 2 "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity"

Step 3 "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."


So, I think it's pretty important not to get stuck on step 1.  Yes, I am powerless, but that does not mean I am helpless.  There is a solution.  I just have to look outside myself to find it.

I thought step 2 would be easy since I have been a Christian from a young age.  Of course I believed in a power greater than myself.  I even believed in healing.  The problem was being willing to let God work in His way not mine.  I had prayed to loose weight and get healthy so many times.  However, what I really wanted was for God to heal me AND let me eat whatever I wanted.  I never put Him in charge of my food.  I had to be willing to change.  (step 3)

I also had to look at what 'sanity' meant.  I discovered that participating in self-destructive behaviors (binging, hiding food, covering feelings with food...) was not a recipe for sanity or peace. 

Step 3 meant I chose to let God be in control of all areas of my life and trust that His way was better.  I let go of my way which was only bringing me pain and frustration and chose God's way even though it was new and scary.  Change is scary.  I like the comfort of the familiar, but the familiar was slowly killing me.  It was time to step out on faith into the new and unfamiliar.

Many OAers like to summarize the first three steps like this --

"I can't, He can, I will let Him."