ACIM Lesson 364 This holy instant would I give to You. Be You in charge. For I would follow You, certain that Your direction gives me peace.
And He will hear and answer me, because He speaks for God my Father and His holy Son.
He is in charge by my request.
This holy instant would I give to You. Be You in charge. For I would follow You, certain that Your direction gives me peace.
1. And if I need a word to help me, He will give it to me. ²If I need a thought, that will He also give. ³And if I need but stillness and a tranquil, open mind, these are the gifts I will receive of Him. ⁴He is in charge by my request. ⁵And He will hear and answer me, because He speaks for God my Father and His holy Son.
He is in charge by my request.
I can’t believe how long it has taken me to make this request. I would ask the Holy Spirit to be in charge once I was in trouble. However, when things calmed down, I would be right back to making decisions on my own. Then I would repeat the same process. Eventually, though, I saw my pattern and realized that I needed to put the Holy Spirit in charge and not change my mind about that. Life is much happier now.
And He will hear and answer me, because He speaks for God my Father and His holy Son.
When I put the Holy Spirit in charge, I am putting God in charge. I am putting my true Self in charge. What could be better than that? I have proven to myself over and over that the ego is not a good advisor. When I leave the Holy Spirit in charge, the advice I receive keeps me on a narrow and straight path leading Home. The ego part of my mind is not necessarily pleased with this choice.
The directions the Holy Spirit gives me can sometimes feel temporarily uncomfortable. For instance, He has me focusing on acceptance of whatever is happening. In order for acceptance to be helpful, it needs to be complete and it needs to occur in every situation. So, what arises are the situations I tend to dislike. The ego insists that I can’t just accept certain things and argues against this. For a while, I am in conflict, but as I continue my practice, the situation is resolved and I see the value in acceptance.
Here Is an Example
I have had an ongoing weight problem all my adult life. I gain weight and then lose it, and immediately, I gain it back. I realize now that I am self-sabotaging but have not been willing to see why I am doing this. The Holy Spirit has led me to acceptance and so I am practicing that in regard to my weight. The idea of simply accepting the situation as it is feels counterproductive and scary to me. It feels like giving up.
But I am sticking with the Holy Spirit because I am convinced that He is bringing me Home and that’s more important to me. After a few days of practicing acceptance, I began to realize that I have been at war with myself for the last 50 years. It’s exhausting just to think about it. Accepting that I have this ongoing issue and that on some level I chose it wasn’t giving up. It was choosing to be at peace with the problem.
Seeing it Differently
Now that I am no longer trying to project the problem onto my metabolism or any other handy target, I can start seeing it differently. The first thing I did after that decision was to forgive myself for my past choices. I don’t know why I made them and if I do need to know that I am sure that clarity will come. Through self-forgiveness, I am no longer in conflict. All my energy is going toward listening to guidance.
If this is the only lesson I learned from asking the Holy Spirit for His guidance, it would be well worth it. However, there is more good coming from my choice for God. Because I forgave my past choices, I am no longer making myself guilty, and guilt is what holds the ego together. Being free of guilt is like turning on a bright light in a dark room making vision possible.
I’m seeing this problem differently now. Instead of it being a weight problem, it is an opportunity to heal my mind. Instead of feeling weak and vulnerable, I feel the strength of God in me. I feel my trust in Him growing stronger every day. After all these years, gratitude is taking the place of failure and guilt. Instead of being disappointed in myself, I feel love for myself. This is as far as I have gotten but I am very pleased. I am certain that His direction will always give me peace and the peace of God is my only goal.
o enjoy the Pathways of Light Insights on ACIM Lesson 364 click here.
If you found this content helpful, please share on social media so more people can read and learn.