TLC Assignment Feb. 15-21, 2012 “See the Flip-Flop, Flip It Back & No Questioning”

There is a split second that determines the quality of your entire spiritual life. It is the moment just before you react — the flash between something going wrong and you going wrong in response to it. In that fraction of a second, you have a choice: stay with God, or take it back. Flip-flopping is what happens when we choose, over and over again, to take it back. Learning to catch yourself in that moment — and stay — is one of the most transformative practices you can develop.

What Flip-Flopping Looks Like

I am dependent on God until things do not go my way — and then I take it back. Not good. No more. Today, look for when you flip-flop, when you take it back. Ask your God to show you when you take it back. “The minute my mental or emotional independence is in question, how quickly I take it all back.”

Look for the moment when somebody or something does not go your way and you get upset and say something nasty or mean. Look for the feeling of everything being okay — and then BAM — you are not okay and you want to hurt something or someone.

That is the moment of change. That is the moment when you make the decision to stay with God and not take it back. Your will is to stay with God. If there is something good there, find it. See how fair-weathered you are about your God — and decide not to be that way anymore. Learn to trust. Learn to stay no matter what. Find the asset — there is one there.

The Moment of Sink or Swim

When you are cruising along in your day and then you see something or hear something, or somebody does something you do not like — BAM. There is a split second to feel the energy, that flash inside your gut, before you react and take it all back. This is the moment of sink or swim. You do not have long. You either do what you always do, or this time you stop. You do not flip-flop. You hold for God and the universe and do not yield to the negativity — and you do it without reluctance.

In that flash moment, trust in God. Trust that it is as it should be. “Thy will, not my will, be done.” This is the practice of true willingness. And when one is willing, anything is possible. Think of all the areas of your life that will improve by practicing the art of willingness. Feel the energy of your Creator all around you in these moments. Reach out for God as though the lights have just gone out and everything has gone completely dark. What do you do? You reach out — and God is there. That is the art of learning not to flip-flop.

Apply willingness — it is the treatment for the flip-flop. Willingness is something done without reluctance.

Making Choices Without Doubt

There is a beautiful by-product of staying with God instead of flip-flopping: you begin to make choices without doubt. When you make choices with your Creator, you do not need to look back and wish you had done something different. Self-doubt comes from continuing to act in self-will — because self-will keeps producing bad results. But when you stay with God and include God in your choices, you are always doing the best you can.

The practice, simply stated: get back to God right now, over and over again. Every time you flip-flop and take it back, recognize it and offer it back. Again and again. Until staying with God becomes your first response rather than your recovery response. Until the flip-flop is less frequent and the trust is more durable. That is what a Way of Life does for you — it gradually replaces the instinct to take back with the habit of staying in.

When I include God in my choices, I am always doing the best I can.