A Course in Miracles Lesson Insights

To gain the most from A Course in Miracles Lesson Insights, we recommend
that you read the corresponding lesson in the Workbook of the Second or
Third Edition of A Course in Miracles published by the Foundation for Inner Peace.

“This holy instant would I give to You.
Be You in charge. For I would follow You,
Certain that Your direction gives me peace.”

Giving every moment to the Holy Spirit may seem like a tall order. It becomes easier when I just focus on doing it in this present moment. It’s like they say in football, “Take it one game at a time.” Just open to Holy Spirit — now. Let the Holy Spirit be in charge — now. This brings it down to a manageable, doable thing.

The Holy Spirit is there to help me right now. He is always doing His job. It is my openness to His being in charge that I need to take care of. If I take care of this one thing, just making sure that the Holy Spirit is in charge right now, the rest will take care of itself. If I do my part, the Holy Spirit’s direction will bring me peace. I will know whatever I need to know whenever I need to know it. So this is my one goal — to put Holy Spirit in charge now. That is all. There are no if’s, and’s or but’s. Just one focus. Right now I open to Holy Spirit’s guidance. This is my part. The Holy Spirit knows how to do His part and will do it if I allow Him. And I focus on allowing Him — now.


It says in the epilogue that the Holy Spirit will provide “all answers that you need for anything that seems to trouble you. He knows the way to solve all problems and resolve all doubts.” In one of the earlier lessons we are told to affirm, “Let me recognize where the problem is so it can be solved.” If I seem to be having a problem that is not being resolved, it is because I am not recognizing where the problem really is.

The ego is always happy to provide “solutions.” But we need to remember that in all things the ego’s motto is always seek and do not find. All the ego’s solutions are really delaying tactics, decoys to keep us from searching where the solution really can be found. The solution is never at the level of form, although the Holy Spirit may use form to help us bridge toward the real solution.

At the core of every problem is the belief that we have separated from our Source and our brothers. If we did not hang on to this belief we would rest contented in the loving presence of our Creator and our brothers, knowing our unity with them. There would be nothing to fix. We have identified for so long with the ego thought system as reality that we do not recognize on our own where the problem lies.

So we need help and we need an open mind. It is why the beginning lessons start training us to remember we do not know what anything means. As long as we are convinced that the meaning we have given what we see is real and true, we are not open to be taught. As we conclude the lessons for the year, we have been shown in many ways that we do not know how to correctly perceive anything. We have also been taught that we are not the isolated, separate identity that we thought we were. We have been told in many ways that we are “God’s Son, complete and healed and whole, shining in the reflection of His Love.” (W.pII.14.1:1)

We are learning to open to a new image of What we are. The recognition of this is accelerated as we give each instant to the Holy Spirit to be our Guide. He directs us with certainty and singleness of purpose to the one goal that brings us Home to the Heaven where we belong. It is a lesson worth learning. It is a lesson of freedom and of peace. Today I will follow, not lead, for it is my heart’s desire to find my Self.


Sometimes I feel like my life is out of control. As I take a step back and look at this, I can see that it has most often happened when I said I wanted one thing and did another. An example would be that I would say I want to lose weight and I will do it by following a specific diet. Then I would not follow the diet and start gaining weight instead. I start feeling anxious all out of proportion with gaining a couple of pounds and I think this is because I feel helpless. I think I have no control over my life even though that doesn’t really make sense.

What I have noticed as I have begun to turn my life over to the Holy Spirit is that in total surrender, I now feel as if I am in control of my life. Before I sometimes felt like I was in a runaway car with no steering and no brakes. I was at the wheel, but the car wasn’t going where I thought I wanted it.

I think that one reason I resisted turning everything over to the Holy Spirit was that I feared losing control. I guess that need to feel independent and in charge of my own life is part of the ego strategy to get me to value separateness. How odd and unexpected it is to discover that surrender to God does not diminish my power, but actually increases it.


Giving every moment to the Holy Spirit does, indeed, seem like a tall order, but that’s because we’re so used to trying to run our own lives (and many times the lives of others). I remember when I was first introduced to that idea, I would think, “How can I turn my life over to something I can’t see or touch or hear?” But by that time, I was in so much pain, I figured I had nothing to lose by turning my life over to my concept of God. My life was in total chaos so I knew I was doing something wrong, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. It seemed like the harder I tried, the worse things got. Today I understand what “being in that place of total surrender is where all your power is” means.


Letting Holy Spirit be in charge, reminds me of Albert Einstein’s statement, “The significant problems we face can never be solved at the level of thinking that created them.” By going to Holy Spirit, we are automatically, instantaneously at a level where no problem exists. By not going to Holy Spirit, we remain at the level of worldly illusion problems, with no hope for alleviating them.

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