STEP FOUR – COURAGE
STEP 4 – Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
SUPPORTING VERSE: “Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.” – Lamentations 3:40
STORY/PARABLE: David Slays Goliath – I Samuel 17: (NIV)
Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah. Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.
A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him.
Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul’s time he was very old. Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah. David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.
Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance. They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”
Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.
Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.”
David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”
When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”
“Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.
David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”
Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”
But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”
Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.
“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”
David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”
As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.
When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath Some Septuagint manuscripts; Hebrew of a valley and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.
David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem; he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.
ENGAGE AND DISCUSS
- What about this story makes David appear to be the UNDERDOG?
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- What are the FACTS about David that actually put him in a position of power?
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- What are the FACTS about Goliath that actually put him at a disadvantage?
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- What TWO SPIRITUAL QUALITIES does David exhibit in this story that allow him to defeat Goliath?
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- On a scale of 1 to 10, how much WILLINGNESS do you have right now as you prepare to take Step 4? _______________
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how much COURAGE do you have right now as you prepare to take Step 4? _______________
PRAY: Ask God to give you enough WILLINGNESS and enough COURAGE to make a “searching and fearless moral inventory” as you pursue becoming the man he designed you to be.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO MAKE A DECISION TO TURN OUR WILL AND LIVES OVER TO GOD?
Looking back at the NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES of our lives, when we have experienced difficulty, pain, discomfort or the everyday problems of life WHO have we been relying upon for the most part?
___________ ____ – _____________…is the ROOT of our troubles.
We have to ________ ______________ _______ !
STEPPING INTO FAITH
The following has been revised from the Big Book and phrased in the first person. Read it aloud, preferably to someone each day for a week, and then decide if:
- It applies to you.
- You’ve had enough MISERY to quit living like you’ve been living.
- You are WILLING to accept your life from this day forward on Gods terms.
(From the Big Book, pages 60-63) The first requirement for Step Three is that I be convinced that my life run on self-will can hardly be a success. On that basis I am almost always in collision with something or somebody, even though my motives are good. I try to live by self-propulsion. I am like an actor who wants to run the whole show; I am forever trying to arrange the lights, the ballet, the scenery and the rest of the players in my own way. If my arrangements would only stay put, if only people would do as I wished, the show would be great. Everybody, including myself, would be pleased. Life would be wonderful. In trying to make these arrangements I may sometimes be quite virtuous. I may be kind, considerate, patient, generous; even modest and self-sacrificing. On the other hand, I may be mean, egotistical, selfish and dishonest. But, as with most humans, I am more likely to have varied traits.
What usually happens? The show doesn’t come off very well. I begin to think life doesn’t treat me right. I decide to exert myself more. I become, on the next occasion, still more demanding or gracious, as the case may be. Still the play does not suit me. Admitting I may be somewhat at fault, I am sure that other people are more to blame. I become angry, indignant, self-pitying. What is my basic trouble? Am I not really a self-seeker even when trying to be kind? Am I not a victim of the delusion that I can wrest satisfaction and happiness out of this world if I only manage well? Is it not evident to all the rest of the players that these are the things I want? And do not my actions make each of them wish to retaliate, snatching all they can get out of the show? Am I not, even in my best moments, a producer of confusion rather than harmony?
I am self-centered – ego-centric, as people like to call it nowadays. I am like the retired businessman who lolls in the Florida sunshine in the winter complaining of the sad state of the nation; the minister who sighs over the sins of the twentieth century; politicians and reformers who are sure all would be Utopia if the rest of the world would only behave; the outlaw safe cracker who thinks society has wronged him; and the alcoholic who has lost all and is locked up. Whatever my protestations, am I not concerned with myself, my resentments, and my self-pity?
Selfishness – self-centeredness! That, I think, is the root of my troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity, I step on the toes of my fellows and they retaliate. Sometimes they hurt me, seemingly without provocation, but I invariably find that at some time in the past I have made decisions based on self which later placed me in a position to be hurt.
So my troubles, I think, are basically of my own making. They arise out of myself, and I am an extreme example of self-will run riot, though I usually don’t think so. Above everything, I, as an alcoholic, must be rid of this selfishness. I must, or it will kill me! God makes that possible. And there often seems no way of entirely getting rid of self without His aid. I had moral and philosophical convictions galore, but I could not live up to them even though I would have liked to. Neither could I reduce my self-centeredness much by wishing or trying on my own power. I have to have God’s help.
This is the how and the why of it. First of all, I have to quit playing God. It didn’t work. Next, I will decide that hereafter in this drama of life, God is going to be my Director. He is the Principal; I am His agent. He is the Father, and I am His child. Most Good ideas are simple, and this concept was the keystone of the new and triumphant arch through which I will pass to freedom.
When I sincerely took such a position, all sorts of remarkable things followed. I have a new Employer. Being all powerful, He will provide what I need, if I keep close to Him and perform His work well. Established on such a footing I’ll become less and less interested myself, my little plans and designs. More and More, I will become interested in seeing what I can contribute to life. As I feel new power flow in, as I enjoy peace of mind, as I discover I can face life successfully, as I become conscious of His presence, I begin to lose my fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter. I will be reborn.
I am now at Step Three. I said to my Maker, as I understood Him: “God, I offer myself to Thee – to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy will always!” I thought well before taking this step making sure I was ready; that I could at last abandon myself utterly to Him.
I’ll find it very desirable to take this spiritual step with an understanding person, such as my wife, best friend, or spiritual adviser. But it is better to meet God alone than with one who might misunderstand. The wording was, of course, quite optional so long as I expressed the idea, voicing it without reservation. This was only a beginning, though if honestly and humbly made, an effect, sometimes a very great one, will be felt at once.
ENGAGE AND DISCUSS
- Does this description fit you? If so, how?
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- Are you convinced that your life, job, relationships, marriage, friendships and everything else in your life run solely on self-will is going to be a failure?
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- Are you willing to follow up this decision with the action required of you in Steps Four through Nine?
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- How will this decision change the way you live your life moving forward?
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I can give you a lot of things…but I can’t give you the one thing you need to move closer to God: ________________.
What are some examples of your own WILLINGNESS so far? Would you say you are _______ __ __ ________ __ _____ ?
It’s not until we try to make ___ ___ ____ conform with God’s that we begin to use it rightly
“Our whole trouble had been the ______ __ _________ . We had tried to bombard our problems with it instead of attempting to bring it into agreement with God’s intention for us.” – 12 Steps & 12 Traditions, pg 40
We claim SPIRITUAL ______________, NOT _____________.
As you learn to turn your will and life over to God, are you willing to ____ ___ ____ __ ________ ____ when you experience problems or difficulties?
We’ve included some additional reading along with two suggested exercises below that will help you take Step 4. Both the readings and the exercises will assist in reviewing your own state of willingness and your desire for healing in your life, bringing it into the reality of the present physical realm. These exercises should be done on paper, hand- written and kept for future reference in your Recovery Notebook. They should also be discussed with your sponsor, guide or a close friend. God has a special purpose for the material in these exercises that He will reveal to you as you move through the 12 Steps into a life of recovery, redemption and restoration.
ADDITIONAL READING:
- READ: 12 Steps and 12 Traditions – Step 4 (pages 42 – 54)
- READ: Alcoholics Anonymous “Big Book” – Pages 63 (last paragraph) – 71 in Chapter Five: How It Works
STEP FOUR EXERCISES
EXERCISE ONE: COMPLETING YOUR SEARCHING & FEARLESS MORAL INVENTORY
Once you have completed all four Inventory Sheets and are ready to discuss them with your sponsor or someone else, you have COMPLETED STEP FOUR and you are ready to move on to STEP FIVE. You’ve just made another gigantic step towards recovery! Congratulations!