((Lamentations 3:40) Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the lord.)

Many people dread step four because they think that they will have to sift through their whole life's story and figure out what makes them tick, or not tick. I know how painstaking these step four experiences can be, I have done several of them during treatment, and I have also helped others work through theirs. I'm sure this step kind of helps someone to see the big picture of their life's actions and behaviors, and I do think this is necessary if you are going to see what is wrong with your life and change it. After my fourth step, I was able to better understand my life and see patterns of pain and wrong behavior that kept repeating themselves. For the most part, my fourth steps (when forced) did nothing but help me put my life into a readable story that I could use to get a clearer focus of it with. But I have noticed over the years, it has been the Holy Spirit that has led me through my fourth step. He has painstakingly walked me through my life, and He explained what happened, the decisions I made because of what happened, the mistakes I made, and also to understand who I am as a person, and why I do the things I do. The fourth step needs to be accomplished with the help of the Holy Spirit to make it really work. He knows everything about you; your history, your thoughts, your desires, your fears, the lies you live by, what has hurt you, and what you have done to hurt others.

When we work on our fourth step, it is more of a state of constant cooperation with the Holy Spirits daily work in us, than it is just trying to fill a square in our recovery process, I don't think it can be forced. Every day that you get up, He will talk to you during that day and tell you things about yourself and how they relate to your life and to others. He will take you back to the original traumas that took place in your life that damaged you. If an airplane gets dented, has holes in it, or parts missing from it, it may still fly, but just not very well or safely. You are that airplane, and even though you get up and drag yourself to work, you have damage that has been done to you that must be healed in order for you to live free from addiction and to truly be happy in life. The Holy Spirit acts as an inspector that knows the airplane better than the airplane does. He will walk you around and show you each problem that has been limiting your capabilities in life, and show you how to repair them with His truth. You can be repaired; you are not too damaged to be made whole again. God likes challenges so don't feel that He can't handle what you lay at His feet.

I believe we need to be open to all the steps at once, because even though the Holy Spirit will work you through many as a progression, He will also work you through them simultaneously if need be. When you go through recovery and work through the twelve steps, you will be getting constant revelations about yourself no matter what step you are on, so be open to listening all the time, and letting the Holy Spirit show you, "You". A moral inventory helps us to basically see our life more as it really is, rather than how we would like to see it. Before we recover, we tend to blame-shift most of our bad behavior onto someone else and play the victim role, we transfer our actions onto what someone did or didn't do in our life. We must see our life and actions clearly, so that we can work them out honestly and have real growth and real freedom from addiction. A surgeon has to see the real problem inside someone, and talk to that person about what’s really wrong, before He can operate on them. He cannot do surgery based just on opinion, he will need to explore and examine the body until He is sure what is wrong with it. We must allow the Great Physician to come and give us the diagnoses of our life's actions and do spiritual surgery on us.

I would encourage you today to pray and ask God to walk you through your fourth step and He will be faithful to do just that. He is gentle and He knows literally everything about you, especially all the blind spots you have had that keep causing the wrecks in your life. He knows exactly what you need to know about yourself, to fix yourself. When you need your car fixed, you don't take it to McDonald's, you take it to the dealer to fix it, and that dealer uses the information provided to them by the manufacturer to fix it. The Holy Spirit is both the dealer and manufacturer of your body, soul, spirit, mind, and plan for your life. Morality is simply God's rules for a happy life. When He takes us through our fourth step, He shows us clearly the how's and why's of what has been causing us to keep breaking His rules, and suffering terrible consequences because of it. You will get through your fourth step, you will get to know yourself, and you will learn why you do the things that you do and God will help you to change for the better.

Here is a prayer to pray if you need it.

"Dear God, I'm sorry for the ways that I have missed the mark, and ignored the good rules you have set for me to live by. I ask God that you would show me clearly in whatever ways I have been doing the wrong things that have produced bad results in my life. I ask you Holy Spirit, to talk to me and to tell me everything about myself that I need to know, and what I need to do to change in those areas. I offer myself to you right now God, without condition, to hear and listen to whatever you have to say to me about my life, and the wrong choices I have made. Help me to understand my life and behavior and to come to a place of peace over them both. Thank you for helping me Lord, in Jesus name I pray, amen."

Some scriptures to help you.