The Challenge Of Failure

In God’s economy, nothing is wasted. Through failure, we learn a lesson in humility which is probably needed, painful though it is.

How thankful I am today, to know that all my past failures were necessary for me to be where I am now. Through much pain came experience and, in suffering, I became obedient. When I sought God, as I understand Him, He shared His treasured gifts. Through experience in obedience, growth started, followed by gratitude. Yes, then King peace of mind – living in and sharing sobriety.

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Filled With Joy

Bible reading: acts 3:2 – 8

Step 3: We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1)

Principle 3: Consciously choose to commit all of my life and will to Christ care and control.

“Happy are the meek.” (Matthew 5:8)

As we travel the road to recovery, we may feel like we’ve been reduced to begging for help. Our lives have been crippled by our own addictions in the addictions of others. We approached God’s door, with heads down, because we feel desperate for the help He promises to give. But even though we come to God with our heads down, that’s not how it has to stay.

Listen to the story about Peter and John’s encounter with a man who felt this way: “They saw a man lame from birth carried along the street and laid beside the Temple gate… as was his custom every day. As Peter and John were passing by, he asked them for some money. They looked at him intently, and then Peter said, ‘Look here!’ The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting a gift. The Peter said, ‘We don’t have any money for you! But I give you something else! I commend you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!’ Then Peter took the lame man by the hand and pulled him to his feet. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankle bones were healed and strengthened… and [he] began walking! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them” (Acts 3:2 – 8).

We may turn to God hoping for meager handouts to keep us going. But he has much more for us! He wants to give us such a full recovery that we are healed and transformed. He wants to take us from being the beggar at God’s door, to being so full of joy that we can’t keep from leaping and praising God.

When we ask God for help, He gives us what we really need.

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A Thankful Heart

God I tried to hold fast to the truth that a full and thankful hearts cannot entertain great conceits. When brimming with gratitude, one’s heartbeat my surely result in outgoing love, the finest emotion we can never know.

My sponsor told me that I should be a grateful addict and always have “an attitude of gratitude” – that gratitude was the basic ingredient of humility, that humility was the basic ingredient of anonymity and that “anonymity was a spiritual foundation of our Celebrate Recovery 12 steps and 8 principles, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.” As a result of this guidance, I start every morning on my knees thanking God for 3 things: I’m alive, I’m sober, and I’m a member of my Celebrate Recovery family. Then I tried to live an “attitude of gratitude” and thoroughly enjoy another 24 hours of the Celebrate Recovery way of life. Celebrate recovery is no longer something I joined, it’s something I live.

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No One Is Worthless

Bible reading: Matthew 25:14 – 30

Step 3: We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1)

Principle 3: Consciously choose to commit all of my life and will to Christ care and control.

“Happy are the meek.” (Matthew 5:8)

When we come out of a difficult season of life, we tend to think of our lives as a mess. But we need to realize that there is more in our lives in pain and problems; there is more to us than our addictions. If we been treated as worthless, we may overlook are many assets – our talents, resources, and abilities. God wants these turned over to Him, too.

Jesus told a story about a man who went away on a long trip. He left some “talents” to 3 of his service to invest while he was away. (A talent was a unit of currency used in biblical times.) They were given differing amounts of money to invest in keeping with each of their abilities. Two of the service use their money profitably. The 3^rd was afraid to try and buried his in the ground. When the master returned he was very pleased with the 1^st 2 servants and rewarded them. He was very angry with the servant who just hit the money away, failing to make every turn on it. The master had expected him to make the most of what he had been given (Matthew 25:14 – 30).

When we turn our lives over to God that includes all the gifts he has entrusted to us. To say that we have no talents or abilities, is an insult to the One who gave them to us. We’re not worthless! We may have to dig around a bit to find those talents that have been buried while we were consumed by our craziness, but God expects us to find them and use them. This will improve our self-esteem and help in our recovery.

God wants all of us because He loves all of us.

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Never Lost

Bible reading: Deuteronomy 8:1 – 18

Step 3: We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1)

Principle 3: Consciously choose to commit all of my life and will to Christ care and control.

“Happy are the meek.” (Matthew 5:8)

The road that leads to recovery is often uncharted and dangerous. We may have been born into a family that was lost in a maze of dysfunction and we have had to look for the way out. There are times of need, times of fear, times when we wonder if there is a God out there who cares at all.

The Israelites who were born in the wilderness must have experienced similar feelings. Their parents had sinned and were left to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. The new generation had spent much of their lives going nowhere, and for no fault of their own. When the Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land, Moses showed how even there, God’s care with present. He said, “Beware that you don’t forget the God who led you through the great and terrible wilderness with the dangerous snakes and scorpions, where it was hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock! He fed you with manna in the wilderness… So that you would become humble and so that your trust in him would grow, and he could do you good” (Deuteronomy 8:4, 15 – 16).

Even when we seem lost, God is watching over us to protect our lives until we can get to a better place. He does take care of us in ways we may take for granted. Peter tells us, “Let him have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you” (1 Peter 5:7). Just being alive and in recovery shows that God cares for our lives!

When lost interpersonal deserts, we can be sure God is never far away.

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Mysterious Paradoxes

Such is the paradox of Celebrate Recovery regeneration: strength arising out of complete defeat and weakness, the loss of one’s old life as a condition for finding a new one.

What glorious mysteries paradoxes are! They do not compute, yet when recognized and accepted, they reaffirm something in the universe beyond human logic. When I face of fear, I am given courage; when I support a brother or sister, my capacity to love myself is increased; when I accept pain as part of the growing experiences of life, I realize a greater happiness; when I look at my dark side, I am brought into new light; when I accept my vulnerabilities and surrender to Jesus Christ, my Higher Power, I am graced with unforeseen strength. I stumbled through the doors of Celebrate Recovery in disgrace, expecting nothing from life, and I have been given hope and dignity. Miraculously, the only way to keep the gifts of Celebrate Recovery is to pass them on.

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