LESSON 47.

God is the strength in which I trust.

W-47.1. If you are trusting in your own strength, you have every reason to be apprehensive, anxious and fearful. 2 What can you predict or control? 3 What is there in you that can be counted on? 4 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? 5 What is there in you that gives you the recognition of the right solution, and the guarantee that it will be accomplished?

W-47.2. Of yourself you can do none of these things. 2 To believe that you can is to put your trust where trust is unwarranted, and to justify fear, anxiety, depression, anger and sorrow. 3 Who can put his faith in weakness and feel safe? 4 Yet who can put his faith in strength and feel weak?

W-47.3. God is your safety in every circumstance. 2 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. 3 There are no exceptions because God has no exceptions. 4 And the Voice which speaks for Him thinks as He does.

W-47.4. Today we will try to reach past your own weakness to the Source of real strength. 2 Four five-minute practice periods are necessary today, and longer and more frequent ones are urged. 3 Close your eyes and begin, as usual, by repeating the idea for the day. 4 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:

5 God is the strength in which I trust.

W-47.5. Now try to slip past all concerns related to your own sense of inadequacy. 2 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. 3 It is not by trusting yourself that you will gain confidence. 4 But the strength of God in you is successful in all things.

W-47.6. 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. 2 You must also gain an awareness that confidence in your real strength is fully justified in every respect and in all circumstances.

W-47.7. In the latter phase of the practice period, try to reach down into your mind to a place of real safety. 2 You will recognize that you have reached it if you feel a sense of deep peace, however briefly. 3 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. 4 There is a place in you where there is perfect peace. 5 There is a place in you where nothing is impossible. 6 There is a place in you where the strength of God abides.

W-47.8. During the day, repeat the idea often. 2 Use it as your answer to any disturbance. 3 Remember that peace is your right, because you are giving your trust to the strength of God.