Miracles News

Articles by
Pathways of Light Ministers

Subscribe to printed version of Miracles News.

Most Recent Articles

(Drag to scroll down.)

Archives

Complete Archives

Tweet

Learning to Trust My Little Willingness

by Rev. Myron Jones, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

My ACIM study group has been reading about the little willingness, and as happens often, it is like I have never read it before. It’s not new information, but it hits me differently this time. It begins by telling us that the holy instant is the result of our determination to be holy. It reminds us that only our willingness is needed, and in fact, to do more will interfere with the Holy Spirit’s part.

I used to wonder how it was that I interfered, but that was because I just couldn’t believe that my desire for awakening was enough. Surely, I had a lot of work to do. I couldn’t just sit back and expect the miracle to awaken me. It felt irresponsible of me to do less. Now I see that this was just the ego trying to stay in the game.

In reality, doing less is precisely what I am to do. For example, when I feel afraid, I know it is because I am holding onto the past. I tried to think of a fear that isn’t about the past, but I couldn’t find one. I wasted time yesterday, and this morning I regretted it. Why? Because in the past, I’ve run out of time to finish all my tasks, and so I fear it will happen again. If I accept that the past is gone and focus only on the present, I would have simply enjoyed the moment, and now I would have no regrets — only a pleasant feeling.

Every fear thought I could find was caused by focusing on the past. There is no past, and there is no future — only the present moment. I am afraid of nothing, yet that is the ego’s plan for sustaining the illusion. If I stay afraid, I will not remember my true identity. I will not remember why I am here, and I will continue to suffer. I am Love Itself, and I cannot know this and at the same time know fear. I must choose, and to choose fear is insanity.

So, what is there for me to do about these fear thoughts and holding onto the past? I have already done it. I saw the problem and I wanted the solution. The Holy Spirit does the rest. I accept His miracle, and my mind is healed. The ego just can’t believe it’s that simple, but it is.

Jesus tells us this: “The Holy Spirit will not delay in answering your every question what to do. He knows. And He will tell you, and then do it for you.” (T-14.IV.6:4-6)

The ego argues the point. It says I must try to always stay in the present moment, which, of course, I will not do, so it sets me up for failure. I’m not asked never to make mistakes — only that I forgive them and let them go. In fact, we are encouraged to not judge ourselves for our errors.

“But trust implicitly your willingness, whatever else may enter. Concentrate only on this, and be not disturbed that shadows surround it. That is why you came. If you could come without them you would not need the holy instant.” (T-18.IV.2:3-6)

The shadows that surround our efforts are the ego’s attempt to distract, distort, discourage, and obscure. If those don’t work, it will attempt to take the Holy Spirit’s job.

We don’t need to worry that it is happening. As long as we think we are here, we will hear the ego. There is no reason to be disturbed by that happening. I simply ignore the ego and focus on my willingness.

Here is why we need do so little:

“The holy instant does not come from your little willingness alone. It is always the result of your small willingness combined with the unlimited power of God’s Will.”  (T-18.IV.4:1-2)

Clearly, this is not something the ego can help with, nor do we need it to do so. We can relax and trust the Holy Spirit to do His part. In the past and sometimes even now, I have worried that the ego never stops its chattering. I worried that I would ask for healing and then find myself in the same situation again. I was afraid all this meant that I was failing. Now I see that it actually means I am succeeding.

There was a time when I didn’t know that I was making a mistake, when I would assume that my problems were someone else’s fault. It did not occur to me that I was doing all this to myself. Even when I had to face the fact that my problem was my own fault, I thought I couldn’t do better because of the way I was raised or because of past trauma. I actually believed that my salvation lay in being a victim.

I hear the ego trying to interest me in this kind of thinking, but I will never believe this again. These shadow thoughts are unimportant unless I believe them, and even then, I have instant recourse through forgiveness. The moment I desire healing, the Holy Spirit answers me and then joins my small willingness with the unlimited power of God’s Will.

There is nothing we need to do to prepare ourselves for God. This idea is just another way we interfere with the miracle.

“If you maintain you are unworthy of learning this, you are interfering with the lesson by believing that you must make the learner different. You did not make the learner, nor can you make him different.” (T-18.IV.4:8-9)

Sometimes Jesus makes a simple statement that just hammers home the point as he does in the next sentence.

“Would you first make a miracle yourself, and then expect one to be made for you?”  (T-18.IV.4:10)

We are worthy because we were created worthy. All efforts to improve on perfection are merely foolish. Our errors are just that — errors. They don’t make us less than what we were created. We are still as God created us. This cannot be repeated too often. I used to absolutely believe that I had to do something with myself before I approached the Holy Spirit. I have to laugh at that now.

“Atonement cannot come to those who think that they must first atone, but only to those who offer it nothing more than simple willingness to make way for it.” (T-18.IV.5:6)

Now my approach is more like this: “Here I am, Holy Spirit, believing that I am a fool, making the same mistakes over and over again, and choosing suffering over healing. I want to make better choices and call on You for a miracle.” Now that is an honest approach. I recognize my error and come for help to correct it.

I’m not trying to fix myself and then approach the Holy Spirit, something that makes no sense. There is nothing wrong with me. I’m just confused and lost in a world that is not my Home. I am asking for directions back to my true nature and to my place in God. And finally, I’m turning to the Teacher who knows.

“You are still convinced that your understanding is a powerful contribution to the truth, and makes it what it is. Yet we have emphasized that you need understand nothing. Salvation is easy just because it asks nothing you cannot give right now.” (T-18.IV.7:5-7)

So many times I have pondered the words I read and tried to understand them. I would discuss it with others, argue over the meaning, and be afraid that if I didn’t understand it correctly, I was doomed to never awaken. This is something else I have released. I accept that I don’t have to understand. I just have to follow directions.

You would think that would be both obvious and simple. After all, if my recipe calls for a teaspoon of salt, I don’t research to discover why this is so. I don’t need to understand why I am to cook it at 350 degrees instead of 375 degrees. I just do it. I don’t know why I need to know why I am to wash one blouse and dry clean another. And I don’t question my GPS when it tells me to turn left rather than right.

I know how to follow directions without understanding why. In this most important area of my life, I don’t need to know why I am to do a thing. I only know that I will.

“If you believe the holy instant is difficult for you, it is because you have become the arbiter of what is possible, and remain unwilling to give place to One Who knows.” (T-18.IV.8:2)

I will remind myself today of this fact. I am not asked to do the impossible. I’m not even asked to do the difficult. I’m only asked to be willing for it to be done, and I give way to the Holy Spirit and not interfere. I cannot fail because I did not fail.

“Everything God wills is not only possible, but has already happened. And that is why the past has gone. It never happened in reality. Only in your mind, which thought it did, is its undoing needful.” (T-18.IV.8:4-7)

Each time I remember this, I feel the burden lift a little more. My only task is to be willing — just willing. The rest is already done. The more I trust that tiny spark of willingness, the more I recognize how vast its light really is. The holy instant is not somewhere I must arrive; it is already here, waiting only for my quiet “yes.” And that, at last, feels like enough.

© 2026, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice and website address are included.

Tell a Friend

Printable Page

Back to main page of Miracles News.

Has this page been helpful to you?
Make a tax deductible donation. Your support for this site is greatly appreciated.

Featured Store Items

Spiritual Counselor Training — based on principles of A Course in Miracles, including ordination. More….

24 ACIM Practitioner courses including 50-page study guide, CD's or MP3s, with facilitator. More….

Healing Inner Child 8-week program will help you nurture your inner child, connect with your Higher Self and heal relationships.

Listen & Receive 30-Day Home Study Learn to receive insight for your life in a form that is perfect for you …heal fears, find joy & peace. Learn more.