Ok, here it is, the final chapter in our 6-Part discussion on SANITY. Do you feel like you have a greater understanding of SANITY now than when we started? I do. I encourage you whether you’re the Ministry Leader, on the BBQ Team, or attend Celebrate Recovery when your schedule allows, to write, to journal, to get INTO the material and EXPLORE it. Don’t rely on someone tossing nuggets of wisdom from the stage, instead, take the initiative to study the Scriptures and acrostics used in Celebrate Recovery. They are incredibly useful tools available to use throughout your recovery journey.
Today’s verse (and an AWESOME at that!):
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8 NIV
The Y in SANITY stands for Your Higher Power (we tried adding YHP to SANITY…but SANITYHP just didn’t make sense). YOUR higher power, not mine, not your dad’s, not your mom’s, not your best friend’s…YOUR higher power.
I’ve heard it said that you can call a doorknob your higher power and I agree, you totally can. Nobody can take that choice away from you. But (by inserting the word “but” here I’m letting you know that I don’t agree with the decision) what can a doorknob do for you? If you stumble and fall, if you turn back to old habits and find yourself lost in the crazy world of relapse…what will that doorknob do for you?
Pray to it…does it hear you?
Cry out to it…does it respond?
Reach for it…does it grab hold of you?
Don’t get me wrong, you can grab a doorknob and pull yourself up by it, but it does NOTHING on its own. It’s dead. It’s created by someone just like you and I. There’s no power dwelling within it. It’s a freaking doorknob.
You need to know there’s a God who rules and reigns in heaven and here on earth, a God who CREATED you, LOVES you, and wants nothing but the BEST FOR you! You know that feeling of despair, that longing for something, that sense of being LOST…it’s because OUTSIDE OF a relationship with God through His son Jesus, you ARE lost. God doesn’t want you to stay there. He sent His son to die on a cross and conquered death three days later so he could adopt you INTO HIS FAMILY AS A SON OR DAUGHTER. Your higher power is also your Father!
Here’s the part I LOVE…the part I get all FIRED UP about…
God didn’t say go get sober, go get over your struggle and then come to me when you’re all cleaned up and ready…NO! He says come to me AS YOU ARE! Read Romans 5:8 again. Christ died for us, that’s you and me, while we were still sinners, still lost, still stuck in our crap! God loves you AS you are, WHERE you are, and, here’s the best part, He WON’T LEAVE YOU THERE!
God is the one who gives us the ability to get BETTER. God is the one who guides us and leads us through this thing known as RECOVERY. On our own we stumble, we fall, we make the same bad decisions again and again and again, but God gives us the POWER to overcome our hurts, habits, and hang-ups!
So, what’ll it be?
Remember, it’s YOUR recovery. Don’t worry about what everyone else is thinking because they can’t help you, they can’t make you get better, they can’t fix you. You need to think long and hard about what you want to do with the rest of your life. Do you always want to remain a VICTIM or do you want to stand VICTORIOUS?
Who is Your Higher Power?
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