This quote from “A Course in Miracles” (ACIM) has always brought me a lot of comfort:
“Discomfort is aroused only to bring the need for correction into awareness.” FIP T-2.V.7
It helped me see a purpose to my overwhelming feelings of anxiety… anxiety was there as a “red flag” that I needed correction.
But I also misunderstood this ACIM quote for years. I thought that the Holy Spirit, or God (Love) was arousing discomfort in me to get me to see that I needed correction. I was SO wrong! Spirit NEVER causes pain. Instead, discomfort is automatically aroused in me BECAUSE I am misperceiving. Discomfort HAS to arise if I am distorting truth because I am perceiving myself as I am NOT. Discomfort HAS to show up if I am listening to the ego. It HAS to show up if I think I’m a body. Therefore, discomfort is a great “red flag” reminder I need to “choose again.” Once I recognize that the discomfort is there, all I have to do is to be willing to take my perception to Spirit in exchange for the miracle.
It is essential that we be willing to uncover and to let go of all forms of the thought that God or Spirit causes us pain or would teach us “lessons.” Otherwise our unconscious fear of God’s Love will remain in place and we will keep siding with the ego. We must be willing to look (WITH Spirit) at all of the areas where we still believe that God “does things to us.”
There are so many sayings that reflect our belief that God teaches us lessons and that God could therefore cause us pain. Here are some examples:
- “God gives you only what you can handle.”
- “Everything happens for a reason.”
- “God comforts the disturbed, and disturbs the comfortable.”
Through the ego, these sayings mean this:
- “God gives you only what you can handle” = Whatever terrible things come your way, God is responsible for, but he’ll back off when it gets to be too intense for you.
- “Everything happens for a reason” = Things sucks right now, but God has a reason for doing it to you which might be revealed to you at some point in the future if you’re lucky.
- “God comforts the disturbed, and disturbs the comfortable” – Basically, you’re only “safe” from God disturbing you if you’re suffering. After all, if God “disturbs the comfortable,” why would any of us want to be truly comfortable? This quote implies that it is safer to stay disturbed so God will leave us alone.
Although these sayings actually used to give me comfort, I see now how they were actually keeping my fear of God’s Love in place (I always thought I believed that God is loving, but these deeply held ideas said otherwise).
Through Spirit, we can look at these sayings in a new way:
- “God gives you only what you can handle” = God isn’t “doing” anything to you. It is simply the ego’s script playing itself out, which is calling forth witnesses for fear. What God gives you is an Inner Teacher (the Holy Spirit) who will look past ALL painful appearances to the truth beyond, IF YOU WILL bring what you see/feel to it. Being willing to turn to the Holy Spirit means that you CAN handle anything because are willing to be shown the Truth behind the form (which is always that you are not a body and ARE LOVE).
- “Everything happens for a reason” = Everything that happens is coming from the ego’s script. And the divine purpose of anything that happens is that it is simply an opportunity to choose for the Holy Spirit instead of strengthening the ego. That is the only truly sane reason behind anything.
- “God comforts the disturbed, and disturbs the comfortable” = God will NEVER disturb you or cause you pain. Pain does not exist in God and therefore does not exist in you (the TRUE you). Only the ego gets satisfaction out of disturbing you because it would prefer to keep your attention on the body (the UNtrue you), and away from the Love that you ARE (the TRUE you).
While we still hold any scraps of fear God’s Love in our mind, we’re going to even misunderstand A Course in Miracles. For instance, at face value, this lesson sounds like God does teach us lessons:
“All things are lessons God would have me learn”
If we misinterpret this and read this sentence through the ego, we could easily think that sickness, disasters, lack, suffering come from God to teach us a lesson. This is UNTRUE. Spirit does NOT cause you pain. The lesson we can learn in ANY circumstance is that Spirit is ALWAYS there for us to choose for. There is ALWAYS another way, through Spirit, to see a painful circumstance. All things that happen are an opportunity for us to turn more deeply to Spirit than we ever thought we could. That is the lesson that God would have us learn: That we are God’s One Son and have never left our Home. Spirit is ALWAYS here.
“All things are lessons God would have you learn. He would not leave an unforgiving thought without correction, nor one thorn or nail to hurt His sacred Son in any way. He would ensure his holy rest remain untroubled and serene, without a care in an eternal home which cares for him. And He would have all tears be wiped away, with none remaining yet unshed, and none but waiting their appointed time to fall. For God has willed that laughter should replace each one, and that His Son be free again.” – ACIM Sparkle edition page 365
Can you think of other popular phrases that mask our fear of Love? Did you experience an insight reading this post? Let me know by leaving a comment below!
Indeed, I find this most insightful!
Thanks for the comments everyone! ♥
This is a new way of thinking and I like it! Thank you Corrine.
Thank you! Love this! Those are things that I say often. I am going to memorize your responses 🙂
This is something I started to learn a couple years ago. Things that arise in us or the things that others trigger in us are just an implication that we still have some type of fear to work on. I also believe we attract people and events that reflect who we are at any given moment and that these can serve as personal tools of growth.
Yes!! That is perfect Yiota! Thank you ♥
I thought of two more phrases that demonstrate our fear of God’s Love:
“God giveth, and God taketh away”
and that God “tests us” to see if we can handle something.
As a teacher, I used to tell my class that “Mistakes are the only evidence of learning”. The idea was to help my students challenge themselves. But when looking beyond the thought system of the ego this seems better “Peace is the only evidence of unlearning” 🙂
Hi Corinne!
I am reading your post again and I realize how easy and tempting it is for me to believe these statements and keep the fear of God intact. I heard a Marianne Williamson lecture a while ago and she said that once you forgive something, then the universe throws you something harder to forgive, as though it’s always challenging you–can you forgive this? Will you forgive that? It’s always upping the ante. That terrified me!
It’s so helpful to remember that this is only the ego’s script, and only the ego would want us to believe that God is giving us pain, difficult circumstances, and things that are hard to forgive. All we need to do is turn to Spirit and we will receive the miracle. Sending love! <3
Thanks for your comment Carly! It is SO important that we look at all of the ways that we believe God is “doing things” to us. That is only ever a fear-based interpretation. I recently heard the phrase “if God brings you TO it, God brings you THROUGH it,” and this is also saying that God is responsible for bringing crap to us! We’ve got to look at every mistaken belief like this… God ONLY KNOWS LOVE, and anything else is of the ego. 🙂
I grew up Catholic, went to Catholic school, and my mother was deep into it. Her favorite saying was and still is, at 85yr old,…..God’s gonna punish you. I’m so grateful that it didn’t really stick. At least now, through ACIM, I can understand why.
Oh boy! Yes, I too am glad that it didn’t stick! It is nice to have the ACIM perspective as to why. 🙂
God helps those who help themselves. This creates the independence from God that further creates isolation from God in our time of need. When I am at my most anxious is when I need Holy Spirit the most, but I was taught its at those times you help yourself. I became very independent but that really means isolated from God. That too is fear of God. Thank you Corrine. I always identify with what you are teaching because you do it in such a loving way. You are a breath of fresh air.
Ahh, good one Rosemarie! You raise such a good point that we can take that phrase and use it to separate ourselves from God. Or we can even use that phrase to self-correct and do the Holy Spirit’s job for it! Thank you for adding this valuable insight. Sending so much love!
This is exactly what I needed this morning. Thank you so much!
There’s a lot of turbulence going on in my life so I’m hearing these types of phrases constantly …..I’ve always considered them platitudes people say when they don’t know what else to say and I admit I get annoyed silently when I hear them ….Thank you for a new perspective i can repeat in my mind next time I’m subject to good intentions ( which of course I do appreciate people having it’s certainly better than the opposite lol )
My 93 year old mother-in-law has often made this remark tongue-in-cheek with a slang country accent “Leave me lay where Jesus flang me”! That’s a lon time to live with that attitude firmly in place – thank u for liberating us from these anxiety provoking beliefs !😜
Thanks a lot corinne, what amazing post, awesome. I love it.
Yes I remember so much phrases of the Catholic church or the nuns of the childhood college, even my sister, when I was suffering or doing something innocence or spontaneous, they told me “this is a punishment of God” or “God will punish you”. And I remember a lot, guau, incredible look at this with my love inner therapist.
Here in Spain is very common tell phrases of the mother to the children like “sit or eat or behave like God command or mandate”.
Acim is pure love, God don’t know our wrong creations, our ego’s and the ego’s that wrote or transmitted this cruel God.
Corinne you are a blessing to all.
Thanks for Sharingyouself.
I love you.
Thank you Corrine. I know I have a deep fear of God and I do believe He is capable of punishing me. I really am not good at following through and turning things over to the Holy Spirit so I never feel lighter after things come up.
Hi Karly! It makes total sense that you wouldn’t have an easy time turning things over to Spirit… why would any of us want to do so if we believe God is fearful and punishing! God is wholly incapable of causing pain of any kind. God ONLY loves. So it is worth it to get those fears of God out (try making a list on paper) and be willing to look at each fear with Spirit, asking for a miracle instead. You are worth the effort it takes to release this fear! Your freedom and joy is awaiting on the other side. Much love to you!