I
know of someone who had been in recovery long term, before he came
into the Christ centred twelve-step program Celebrate Recovery (CR).
He had been learning recovery principles from other sources, and had
had a measure of healing and numerous periods of sobriety. After
entering CR, he almost immediately fell off the wagon. The way he
tells it, as he embraced step one “I admitted I was powerless over
my addictions,” he ditched that part of recovery that, at some
level, was working for him. He did however quickly lean to walk in
full victory and healing. I want to say two things this morning.
Firstly in coming out of denial and admitting our powerlessness in
the area of our difficulties, we must be careful not to give up on
what we can do. Secondly I want to acknowledge that there are those
who seem to find it possible, with extraordinary willpower to change,
but they never seem to loose the craving, and there is no healing.
The
picture I have of these things, is of a whirlpool where the current
at the edges is relatively weak, but increases towards the vertex.
Depending on how strong a swimmer you are, you can go deeper into the
whirlpool, and still be able to swim out. But there comes a point at
which you will not get out without help. The point is that when we
ask Him, God will make up for what we cannot do, but like a parent
who shouldn't still be tying a ten year old child’s shoes, He will
not do for us what we can do for ourselves. That would be to negate
growth. Though the denial step is designed and phrased to bring those
out of denial who are hopelessly out of control, the way these things
work, is that by working the steps, we grow in self-control
(Galatians 5:23). It is as though God brings us to the place in the
whirlpool where we have the strength to swim out, and then we have to
do it. And the man in the story had simply stopped swimming. To put
it another way, he surrendered responsibility for what he could do.
About
the second point, I know of people with tremendous will power who
for example, by it are able to quit smoking. But they never loose the
craving, and it’s a battle every day. I describe myself as a dry
drunk for the first couple of decades of my Christian walk. I had
stopped drinking, but neither healed nor dealt with the issues that
lead me to drink in the first place. Healing, deliverance, dealing
with the issues and having a change of heart (desires) are all
related. The Scriptures tell us that “God is at work in you, giving
you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him” (Philippians
2:13), but the context makes it very clear that this is dependent on
our cooperating with Him with everything we are, and have (verse 12).
As always I need to make it clear this is not about earning the
justification part of salvation (freedom from the penalty of sin),
it is about getting and staying fee (John 8:31ff).
Father,
what a wise and loving Father You are, teaching us in Your Word about
denial, responsibility and healing. You seem to be more interested in
our growth, than our arriving at perfection. Thank You Lord for this,
and the corresponding significance and self confidence we find in
these things, in Jesus Name Amen
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