Constructive Sorrows

Bible reading: 2 Corinthians 7:8 – 11

Step 4 - We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

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

Principle 4 –  Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust. (Steps  4 and 5)

“Happy are the pure in heart.”

We all have to deal with sorrow. We may try to stuff it down and ignore it. We may try to drown it or avoid feeling it by intellectualizing. But sorrow doesn’t go away. We need to accept the sorrow that will be a part of the inventory process.

Not all sorrow is bad for us. The apostle Paul had written a letter to the church in Corinth. It made them very sad because Paul was confronting them about something that they were doing wrong. At first, he was sorry that he had hurt them. But later he said, “Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain turned you to God. It was a good kind of sorrow you felt, the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have… For God sometimes uses sorrow in our lives to help us turn away from sin and seek eternal life. We should never regret His sending it… Just see how much good this grief from the Lord did for you! You no longer shrug your shoulders, but became earnest and sincere, and very anxious to get rid of the sin.” (2 Corinthians 7:8 – 11)

Jeremiah said, “Although God gives… Grief, yet he will show compassion too, according to the greatness of his loving kindness. For he does not enjoy afflicting men and causing sorrow.” (Lamentations 3:32 – 33)

This grief was good, for it came from honest self-evaluation, not morbid self-condemnation. We can learn to accept their sorrow as a positive part of our recovery, not just as punishment.

Honest self-examination can lead us to a sorrow that inspires our growth.

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The God Idea

When we saw others solve the problems by simple reliance upon a Spirit of the Universe, we had to stop doubting the power of God. Our ideas did not work. But the God idea did.

Like a blind man gradually being restored to sight, I slowly groped my way to the Third Step. Having realized that only a Power greater than myself could rescue me from the hopeless abyss I was in, I knew that this was a Power that I had to grasp, and that it would be my anchor in the midst of the sea of woes. Even though my faith at the time was miniscule, it was big enough to make me see that it was time for me to discard my reliance on my prideful ego and replace it with a steady strength that could only come from a Power far greater than myself.

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I wrote and used this in our Action Lesson, Lesson 6, on Wednesday evening in our Celebrate Recovery Large Group Meeting.

Jesus says, “Come to me and I will give you rest—all of you who work so hard beneath a heavy yoke. Wear my yoke—for it fits perfectly—and let me teach you; for I am gentle and humble, and you shall find rest for your souls; for I give you only light burdens” (Matthew 11:28–30, TLB).

Just a quick word about yokes.  Pretty much everyone knows what a yoke is.  If not, it is the picture on the left.  It goes around the neck of two oxen, pairing them together so that they can pull a load together, equally.  When Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you… for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  I paraphrased a little here.  How can that big log over our necks be light?  How can the plow that we are pulling be an easy load?

Look at the picture.  The cloth that the rabbi has over his head is also called a yoke.  In the days of Jesus, the rabbi’s yoke was decorated in such a way as to signify a way of teaching.  If you know anything about martial arts, each Sensei, or teacher, has his own dojo, or school of technique.  The same with the rabbi’s.  Their school of thought was identified thru their yoke, and the markings on it.  So a student, or a rabbi who had studied under a certain “master”, would have the same markings.

When Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you… for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”, in essence, what He is saying is to take my teachings upon you.  I don’t have all the burdens of the law to weigh you down.  Remember when He was asked by the Pharisee’s, which was the greatest commandment?  He replied, “”Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  Matthew 22:36-40 NIV

Two commandments instead of 633 laws.  And, those two concern one thing.  Love.  If we follow those two commandments, there would be no need for any of the others.  Not the other 8, that Moses had on the stone tablets, or the other 631 that were added to fill in the loopholes that people tried to find.

And Jesus’ yoke?  His burden?  If we are under His teachings, then we also fall under His grace.  That grace that forgives us, even before we were seeking Jesus.  That grace that takes away all condemnation, guilt and sorrow for the things that we have done in the past.  That grace that washes us clean, and white as snow.  That same grace that continues to wash us as long as we continue to accept the power of Jesus Christ to change our lives, and submit to Him, and live our lives under His yoke.  That is one burden that I will gladly bear.

Celebrate Recovery and the Lord's Prayer

I know this is long, but it was so good, I just had to post it. This is taken from the Life's Healing Choices book by John Baker. We are using this series in our CR Leadership training, and it has really been helpful.

Praying the Scripture may be a new experience for you, but it's a prayer method that brings amazing blessings. Let's look at the Lord's Prayer. You will see how the eight principles of Celebrate Recovery are supported in this prayer. As you pray, you will be able to focus your prayer to avoid the dangers of relapse.

Scripture: "Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name..."
Principle 1: Realize I am not God...
Principle 2: Earnestly believe that God exists
Prayer: Father in Heaven, Your name is wonderful and holy. I acknowledge that You hold all power, that You are God and that on my own I am powerless. Without You, I will most certainly relapse into my old hurts, hang-ups and habits.

Scripture: "Your kingdom come..."
Principle 8: Yield myself to God to be used...
Prayer: I pray that Your kingdom will come in my life, that I will yield myself to be used by You, that You can use me to reach out to others with the Good News of Your kingdom and Your healing. Help me to find ways to serve You and others.

Scripture: "Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven..."
Principle 5: Voluntarily submit to God's changes...
Prayer: Oh, Lord, I pray that Your will be done in my life. I fight against it so often, but in my heart of hearts, I choose to submit to You. Help me to hold on to that choice. I choose Your will over my willpower; help me not to fall back into old patterns.

Scripture: "Give us today our daily bread..."
Principle 3: Consciously choose to commit everything to Christ's care...
Prayer: Supply me with just what I need for today. Help me to take my recovery one day at a time, not looking too far ahead, but committing all my life and will to Christ's care and control, one day at a time.

Scripture: "Forgive us our debts..."
Principle 4: Openly examine and confess my faults...
Prayer: Forgive me, Lord. I have looked at my life and my heart, and what I have seen is not pretty. You already knew that, and I thank You for loving me anyway and for forgiving me so freely. Thank You for the loving support from others that You have provided along my healing journey.

Scripture: "As we also have forgiven our debtors..."
Principle 6: Evaluate all my relationships...
Prayer: Soften my heart toward those who have harmed me. Teach me, by Your power, to forgive, as You have forgiven me. and give me the courage, the conviction, and the wisdom to make amends where I have harmed others. Help me not to relapse into old patterns of resentment and bitterness.

Scripture: "and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one..."
Principle 7: Reserve a daily time for God
Prayer: Help me to daily spend time with You. I know that time with You is my best defense against relapse and my best offense toward growth. May my time with You create a hedge of protection around me. Amen.