Nature and Power of Surrender

 In the first installment of this series, we explored the Nature and Power of Honesty. In the second installment, we focused on the Nature and Power of Belief and Hope. Today, we will explore the Nature and Power of Surrender. This step confronts, conflicts, and challenges us to sacrifice self. It is the first step where action is required. A step that is radical in its approach. While the first step helps us understand and acknowledge our own weakness. The second step helps us prepare by realizing the need of a greater power than ourselves in order to restore hope. This third step requires we step out in great faith. It is a step of deconstruction and reconstruction. 

Made a decision - a very radical decision

Our greatest desire and barrier to a sustaining and long-term sober lifestyle is that of our illusion of control. We obsess over our need to control - people, places, things, and events. This is true when a person attempts to control, on repeated occasions, the compulsory need for alcohol/drugs and/or other problematic behavior. However, we make a conscience decision that is complete and total. We give up our ultimate need of control over our own lives to that of a Higher Power. What does this look like? How does it help us in recovery?

It is coming to the end of our own self and self-righteous desires. It is the confrontation of the reality we have been kicking at the goad. Based on an ancient Greek Proverb, it reflects an agricultural concept. A farmer used a Goad (today, it is called a cattle prod) in which he'd guide the oxen in the specific direction needed. The oxen sometimes rebelled and kick against it. The goad, made with an iron point, would go further into the animal's flesh. This caused even more suffering. In Philosophy, we kick at that which is harmful, yet driving us toward a certain direction.

At the very core, we realize our own deficiency and will power. Recognition of hope in something more powerful and greater than ourselves moves us toward relinquishing our lives over to that Higher Power. It is a radical surrender. Meaning, it is complete, and total.

Surrender is required for deconstruction

The first part of our recovery process begins by deconstructing our ego, our self-centeredness, our selfishness, and our critical and manipulative false beliefs. It is the deconstruction of our own illusions and disillusions.

This step, also, requires that we step outside of ourselves and forces us to begin exploring what standards of conduct are more socially acceptable. This is compared to the behavior motivated by distorted and false beliefs. It requires we relinquish:

• Old attitudes and false beliefs and values
• Old patterns of living that have produced pain and suffering
• resentments, bitterness, and unforgiveness
• Shame and guilt brought on because of our substance use
• Fears and barriers that prevent us from growing and restoring sense of true self/soul

Once we place our faith in a Higher Power and completely and totally surrender our lives and will over to our higher power; are we able to begin the process of deconstruction.

However, we want to remember that there needs to be something that replaces the old attitudes and beliefs. If there is no replacement, then we become disillusioned, despondent, and desolate.

Reconstruction of the authentic soul

The pathway of recovery is the reconstruction, or restoration of, the authentic soul. This is accomplished as we work the steps, attend our meetings, and develop new way of living through fellowship with others in recovery. It promotes healing, realignment with true values and beliefs, and fosters empowerment and freedom. We are guided in finding meaning and purpose in life.

This process requires trust on our part. It is putting into action our faith we discovered in step two. Trust in others who are working a healthy recovery program. Trust in we to change and move through the recovery process. Trust in our developing of new attitudes and beliefs.

It also requires our understanding of the process. Understanding of what it takes to live one day at a time. To make a conscious effort to reshape our thoughts. Understanding of how our emotions work and the influence they have on our lives. Understanding of the consequences of continued substance use and the continual despair inherent in continued use. Understanding of faith and hope, and how we are healing day by day.

Restoration is the act of turning from that which brought destruction in our lives and turning toward that which will bring restoration in our lives. This includes the act of forgiving and forgiveness, to make a commitment toward our own healing process.

Finally, it brings us to the reality of the new life offered through the process of recovery. A new identity and understanding of who we truly are. Finding our own sense of worth, empowered freedom, sense of fun, and sense of belonging: we become renewed in knowing our meaning and purpose.

To turn from our old ways and toward a new way requires commitment. It requires hard work, patience, persistence, and faithful perseverance. This third step is the step of readiness for engagement in the necessary efforts toward change. It is also something we commit to every day.

This commitment to reconstructing our new sense of authentic self is based on these truths:

1. Understanding
2. Intention
3. Communication/community
4. Action/Engagement
5. Livelihood/service
6. Effort/Energy
7. Mindfulness
8. Concentration

These 8 principles will be further explored in a separate article. Suffice it to say, our recovery warrants a process of healing, of change, and of our commitment toward a new way of living life that is free from substance use. It becomes a life we work toward recovering. And, it is a life we experience when we come to realize that there is a required sacrifice to give ourselves, and our will, over to something greater and more powerful than ourselves.

Nature and Power of Belief and Hope

 Imagine you are walking along a very narrow path. The forest is thick and dark. As you struggle your way along the path, you notice a possible clearing up ahead. In haste, you rush along the path. The clearing becomes more and more welcoming. At last, you take your last step out of the darkness and into what appears to be a safe and inviting clearing. Unfortunately, you failed to look at your final step and realize you've just stepped into quicksand.

As you look around, a large and sturdy branch hangs within reach. You grab hold of the branch. With exertion, you pull yourself free from the quicksand. In that moment, you are placing your faith and hope in that branch to bring you out of harm's way.

In recovery, we come to a place that awakens us to reality. We become radically and rigorously honest with ourselves over our inability to manage our lives. And that we have allowed substance use to become the predominate means of existence. Once we are honest with ourselves, we are able to look toward a way to bring ourselves back onto a path of living differently. We are looking for restoration.

Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves is able to restore us to sanity

There are two distinct principle truths in the second step of any 12-step based recovery support group. The first requires faith and belief. The second reflects our assurance and trust in the capability of being restored. Belief and hope are the two core principles.

As we move from being honest with ourselves, we are now entering into a reality of how we are not at peace. The insanity of our disease may prevent us from bringing our own self out of despair. This is evidenced by the many attempts a person has engaged in their attempt to moderate, control, or even establish some period of abstinence.

When an individual meditates on this step, they are responding to a deep acknowledgement of their own suffering. Through their own personal experience confirms the reality of the struggle to achieve restoration and sanity. This insanity is the crazy ways of thinking and acting that are a real part of our experience. As powerfully devastating substance use causes: we admit our need for something more powerful than our own will and strength.

Despite our present despair. We also admit that possibility exists a way for us to work toward changing our present lives. It is when we finally take this step, we may experience an overwhelming relief. Our sense of hopelessness and powerlessness becomes a hope and empowering encounter toward restoration. This step acknowledges the reality of spiritual healing. It is that moment of clarity when we reach out for help.

It is a deep reflection of our own belief in a healing power that helps us out of our quicksand. An individual finds healing power in others who are in their own sustaining recovery program. It may come with a rekindled passion to reconnect with a faith-based community. Or it may be in those quiet and sacred moments of turning toward the Divine and seeking help in our distress.

We shift our thinking from the illusion of false belief and hope that our substance use may have provided to a more rational and logical belief in something that is more powerful in breaking those chains of bondage.

This hope offered by taking this step is our belief in the possibility of freedom in knowing recovery is attainable. It is attainable because we are on a path toward ending our own suffering. We begin to gain insight in knowing we are healing, learning to forgive self and others, develop a deeper sense of self and love for self and others. An individual begins to find hope in recovering the loss sense of self. Our true nature. Our authentic sense of being.

Along with the belief and hope that is inspired through taking this next step, we are also granting permission. Permission for us to explore ways to find healing. Living a liberated life where we begin to experience insightful and transformative wisdom. It is the path of enlightenment. It's our call to spiritual awakening to the reality of taking our journey of self-actualization.

However, this does not come easily. The healing power of recovery comes when we realize our need to completely surrender our lives over to a power greater than ourselves.

Hungering and Thirsting after Sobriety

 

Photo by Elijah Hiett on Unsplash

Addiction is an appetite of desire. Its powerful grip holds the individual captive. Our most inner drive moves us to hunger and thirst after alcohol and/or drugs. The greater our hunger and thirst, the deeper we sink into the abyss. In order to recover from this, hold our addiction has on us, we must begin to thirst and hunger after sobriety. The appetite for alcohol and/or drugs compels us to satisfy those cravings that we have developed. Today's thought, therefore, focuses on the nature of how we must learn to develop a thirst and hunger for sobriety:

If we're going to stay sober, we've got to learn to want something else more than we want to drink. ... we couldn't imagine wanting anything else so much or more than drinking. So, we had to stop drinking on faith, on faith that someday we really would want something else more than drinking. But after ... we learn that a sober life can really be enjoyed. We learn how nice it is to get along well with our family, how nice it is to do our work well whether at home or outside how nice it is to try to help others. Have I found that when I keep sober, everything goes well for me?

How do we then begin to develop a thirst and hunger for sobriety? The answer depends on how we have first come to terms with the reality and severity of our addiction. It also comes to acknowledging the length of our journey from the abyss our addiction brought us into. However, once we have acknowledged and accepted the reality of our own powerlessness over alcohol and/or drugs, we begin to make our way toward sobriety. We begin to disassociate ourselves from those that continue to use. Our desire is to no longer "hang" with those type of people. Developing healthier relationships with others in their own journey through the recovery process will become the barometer by which we utilize as an empowering force to propel us forward.

Along the way, we also discover our hidden talents, or re-discover those talents we had long since abandoned. We begin to grow, become healthier and humbled in our own experiences and how we are progressing toward a more meaningful and balanced lifestyle. Our addiction begins to crumble as we develop a new thirst and hunger for a healthy sober lifestyle.

Recovery is an Intensive Spiritual Battle

 Put on the whole Armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places

~ Ephesians 6:11-12 ~

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Recovery is an intense battle one will face. It is a battle for our minds, for our bodies, and for our very soul. Between active sobriety and active addiction, we come to embrace the truth or continue to live in our lies and dishonesty. Our Higher Power on one side and our powerful Satan (adversary/opposing one) on the other side.

For this reason, we need to stand a little taller where we stand on the principles of recovery and change. We are to be involved in the process that moves us through a transformation. Otherwise, we submit our lives and our will over to the power of our addiction.

What does our armor of recovery look like? If we involve ourselves with treatment, with attending recovery based sober support meetings, seeking out healthy mentors, and learning from them, developing and utilizing necessary tools, we are engaged in ways to protect ourselves at that time when we are called to battle.

The first element of our Armour is truth. Active substance use brought us into a life of deception, illusions, and lies. We break free from our denial's and recognize the first element of truth: I have become powerless over my substance use and the negative impact this has had on my life.

This occurs when we gird up our loins with truth. This means we are preparing and strengthening ourselves for what is to come.

The second element of our Armour is the breastplate of righteousness. The purpose of this breastplate is to protect our vital organs. In the koine Greek, we find that this refers to the justness or justice that comes in the form of protection against those who may speak wrongly of us. It protects our hearts from false accusations. Through recovery, we find justice and we find our lives, through recovery, acceptable.

The third element is that of our feet being shod. The twelfth step shares how we carry our message to the one who is suffering. In battle, there are obstacles that may injure a soldier's feet. Being prepared for any obstacles that may cause one to lose footing helps one maintain recovery. We also carry the message, our story, to others who may find themselves suffering from substance use.

The fourth element of our Armour is the shield of faith. Our faith in our recovery, in others, in ourselves, and most assuredly in our Higher Power helps us extinguish the fiery darts of the adversary. These come as doubts, people who attempt to enable us to return back to substance use. In Ancient Rome, the Roman Soldier's shield covered most of his body.

The fifth element of our recovery Armour is the helmet. This protects our most critical and viable part, our head. This is the seat of our mind, where our thoughts and emotions stem from. We begin protecting ourselves from those thoughts that may bring doubt, may enable us to engage in adverse behavior. We won't be protected from our own feelings (as they are natural human emotions); however, we will experience protection from managing and being aware of our own thoughts and feelings in order to protect ourselves from engaging in adverse behavior.

Finally, the last element of our Armour is the very sword we wield. This is the only offensive weapon that makes up our Armour. This is the sword that penetrates deep, it is the spirit of truth. Our words speak life or death. When we use it appropriately, our truth comes out and penetrates those we come in contact with. When engaged in battle, we use our truth, our story, as a means to defend and attack any and all things that may come as threat against our recovery and sobriety.

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Today's thoughtful meditation

I will remember to put on the full Armour that is needed. As, I realize that my recovery requires me to engage in battle against those things that come as a threat to my recovery and sobriety. I stand with courage and faith that I will strive toward sobriety, fully engaged in facing down my fears, my doubts, and my own illusions.

 

 

Spiritual Maturity through the Steps

Photo by Max Bender on Unsplash

One of the greatest blessings is working with people who suffer addiction. Sitting in counsel with them and discussing presenting issues they are facing. And, coming up with a means to provide support, encouragement and hope for them is a very unique opportunity. An opportunity to see how a life transforms over time to where they become healthier individuals. I relate to my clients the following:

Recovery is not about abstaining from the use of alcohol and/or drugs. Recovery is about how one lives in a moment-to-moment of transformation from an active addictive lifestyle to an active sober lifestyle.

This is very true in Christianity. We are literally transforming our lives from the old life and living in a manner that produces a whole new life. A life that is centered on Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the cross. It is abandoning and moving away from old habits, thought processes, how we relate to others and what we come to believe and value in life.

One of my own personal struggles has always focused on "I believe in God, yet do not seem to see my life really changing to reflect what I know and believe to be true." Disappointment and frustration arise.

This all changed when I personally began to study the practical meanings of the 12-steps of recovery (originally developed for Alcoholics Anonymous). My purpose in studying the practical meanings behind the steps was to better educate and inform my clients a way to utilize these as tools for their recovery. Through this process, God has spoken to me and revealed to me what I've been missing all these years.

Approaching the steps - not from a recovery standpoint, however, from a spiritual application - a greater sense of inspiration has come about. This, I would like to share with my readers as a means to provide another tool that will hopefully develop a greater sense of authentic Christian living in their lives. In fact, the first statement in step twelve is this:

Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps....

This is the heart of the Christian message and biblical worldview - to come to a place of spiritual awakening through Jesus Christ and to become living sacrifices through Him. It is a process that occurs throughout our entire lives. It is not something that occurs overnight.

Yes, we are saved by God's sovereign grace. Nothing in this life will earn our place in Heaven. And it is God who chooses us while we were yet sinful. However, there is greater work to be done in our lives from the moment of regeneration and justification. That begins at the moment we confess our belief in Christ Jesus and receive him as our own personal Savior.

If you have struggled with how to become spiritually mature as a Christian, struggling with sin, or simply finding yourself lacking in faith, then I ask for you to carefully read and ponder these thoughts and do what you are able to implement them in your life today. These steps were developed in the 1930's and many people have found hope by working these steps continually in their lives. I believe we are able to find greater hope in working these steps in our own spiritual lives as we continue to come unto Christ and follow after him.

Daily Choices Affect my Recovery

By small and simple things are great things brought to pass. 

~ Alma 37:8 ~

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I met a gentleman a few months ago. We both were taking public transportation and we engaged in an interesting conversation. The main take away of this conversation focused on his personal belief around choices. I recall him saying, "Decisions, decisions, decisions, decisions." The context of this focused on how we make choices that bring us to certain situations in life. And he is correct.

If you attend any sober support meeting, you become familiar with the sayings: One Step at a Time, One Day at a Time, Easy Does it. These are a small sampling of what one may hear. Recovery is a course in one's live that is seldom determined by any great, life-altering decisions. How we direct our life, as we are living in recovery, is often determined by the small, day-to-day decisions we make.  This is the very substance of living in recovery - our ability to make choices. 

Through our small and simple choices, we make to engage in maintaining a program of recovery, maintaining abstinence, and engaging in a life where we begin to find meaning and purpose, greater things begin to happen whereby we achieve sobriety and a transformed life: A life of meaning, purpose, and overall health and wellness.

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Today's Thoughtful Meditation

I will be aware of how my daily choices align with what I believe and value as I continue my journey through recovery. Knowing that these small day-to-day decisions are charting my own track on which I run.

 

 

 

Three Things People Need in Recovery

 

With the increase, and awareness, of the opioid crisis there is also the ever-increasing number of people coming into recovery and treatment. We must make an increasingly substantial effort to assist them as they find their way to wholeness and peace. Each person stands in need of three things for recovery to, not only be possible but, to be successful.

A Friend

Having someone in our life that helps us see things objectively, holds us accountable, and assists us in being motivated is wonderful. Yet, when we have someone that accepts us and appreciates us unconditionally goes further in how we approach and engage recovery.

Responsibility

Developing responsibility for our own life, our own thoughts, and our own feelings helps us move toward wholeness as we begin to realize we are the only person responsible for our own life. This includes our own recovery.

Higher Power

Having a higher power helps us refocus ourselves back onto what is more important. This is where we develop faith, receive wisdom and insight, and able to find empowerment to face obstacles and challenges in recovery.

Those who are in a healthy place, and working a healthy recovery program, has a duty to provide these things to those coming into their own path and journey from substance use.

Today's mindful meditation

I will focus on making new connections, taking responsibility, and continually seeking guidance from my higher power. 

 

Healing Power of Recovery

 Healing is a matter of time, but sometimes it is a matter of opportunity

~ Hippocrates ~

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One's journey through recovery is a powerful healing process that exists among those faithful, courageous, and committed to change. This does not happen overnight. As much as we want to find a quick solution to a deep spiritual problem; we are gradually healing one day at a time.

It begins the moment we come to realize our dependence on substances is the reason for our sickness. We call on those who are already in recovery, enter into treatment, seek help for our physical ailments, and venture to seek out spiritual counsel.  Abstinence teaches us how to sustain short term recovery. Sustained and long-term abstinence requires learning and growth toward an adaptive healing process of change.

We are to live in recovery by adopting healthier skill sets and awareness of moving toward a whole and fulfilling healthy lifestyle.

Recovery, therefore, involves our own participation in healthy and meaningful life activities. This is based on our identified values, interests, and beliefs. We are also mindful of our own present thoughts and feelings, managing them - even when they are seemingly disturbing and uncomfortable. As we are healing, we are also rediscovering (or discovering for the first time) who we are as individuals. This, hopefully, leads us toward conscious awareness as we begin to sustain balance in our lives.

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Today's thoughtful meditation

I will focus on my own process of healing, taking one day at a time, experiencing my own conscious awareness in order to continue to sustain balance and harmony.

Faith Overcomes

 

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There is no obstacle too great, no challenge too difficult, if we have faith

~ Gordon B. Hinckley ~

There are many presenting challenges the moment an individual begins traversing their journey through recovery. One faces many different obstacles. Challenges may seem difficult to face. Yet, it takes great courage and bold faith to overcome our obstacles and challenges. As we continue to remind ourselves three important truths:

• Because of our substance use, we are powerless, and our lives are unmanageable
• Since we are powerless and our lives are unmanageable, it takes something greater and more powerful to help us find restoration and peace in our lives
• We decide to turn our lives and our personal will (volition) over to our higher power

Faith is essentially that which we hope for and yet is unseen. We have faith that our lives will be restored, and we will eventually experience peace, joy, and have meaning and purpose. Our faith grows as we continue to learn to trust in our own Higher Power.

In Barnes Notes on the Bible, we find the following:

The mustard-seed was the smallest of all seeds. It has been supposed by some, therefore, that he meant to say, If you have the smallest or feeblest faith that is genuine, you can do all things. The mustard-seed produced the largest of all herbs. It has been supposed by others, therefore, to mean, If you have increasing, expanding, enlarged faith, growing and strengthening from small beginnings, you can perform the most difficult undertaking. There is a principle of vitality in the grain of seed stretching forward to great results, which illustrates the nature of faith. Your faith should be like that. This is probably the true meaning.

Ye shall say unto this mountain ... - Probably he pointed to a mountain near, to assure them that if they had such faith they might accomplish the most difficult undertakings - things that at first would appear impossible.

Recovery from substance use requires the smallest amount of faith. This small faith becomes powerful in the life of the individual. It is the essential truth of all religious and spiritual belief systems. It is essential to recovery as well.  Our faith begets hope, and our hope begets peace; whereby we begin to experience healing in our lives. That is what recovery is about - healing and restoring ourselves.

The greatest enemy to one's sobriety and recovery is this: Fear of our inadequacies to overcome obstacles and challenges we may face. Our greatest ally is faith in our higher power where we draw confidence and strength to face our obstacles and challenges.

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Today's Thoughtful Meditation

I will begin exercising the smallest amount of faith when facing the challenges and obstacles that may hinder me from moving forward in my own recovery.

 

Work and Purpose of Recovery

 

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Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God. 

~ Alma 5:28 ~

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We are required to strip ourselves from pride. If we do not, we are not able to surrender our life and will over to a higher power. This begins by making a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves (Step Four). Pride prevents us from a real and honest look into who we presently are.

Recovery begins when we get to the core understanding of who we are as individuals. What our weaknesses are, what our strengths are. Discovery of character defects, beliefs, values, and reasons we think the way we think, and feel the way we feel. Understanding our own personal experiences in the process. How we define our sense of reality. The impact, good or bad, we have had on other people. This process requires humility.

Our personal inventory is based on two components of truth:

Principle Truth: Fearless

In Plato's apology, we read something the philosopher quotes from Socrates when present at the trial. Socrates was ultimately condemned to death. This quote shows the inexplicable truth: An unexamined life is not worth living. To examine one's life may require one to not fear what they see. Fear is typically something concerning the unknown. What is the greatest unknown to the person in recovery? Their own personal identity. When we are not fearful to discover who we truly are, we are liberated to accepting and beginning to work a recovery where there is meaning and purpose.

Socrates' claim that the unexamined life is not worth living makes a satisfying climax for the deeply principled arguments that Socrates presents on behalf of the philosophical life. The claim is that only in striving to come to know ourselves and to understand ourselves do our lives have any meaning or value. Again, goodness is associated with wisdom, making the life of the philosopher--the lover of wisdom--the most desirable life of all. If we refuse to question ourselves and the world, we will act without reason, unable to distinguish between good actions and bad actions. Without philosophy, Socrates might argue, humans are no better off than animals. The good life is one in which we make both ourselves and those around us happier and better off, and the only way to pursue that life is to pursue wisdom and self-knowledge. If Socrates were to give up philosophizing, he would be abandoning the examined life, and without wisdom or self-knowledge he would be better off dead.

Principle truth: Moral

When we overcome our fear of our own unknown identity, we begin to look at our own temperament and character. We question and evaluate our personal beliefs and values. We examine how our behavior has led us to where we presently are. We restore our moral agency - or our temperament and character to make appropriate decisions toward a meaning and purposeful life.

Through this, we come to see who we truly are, with the help of our own Higher Power. We come to accept our true self (soul). We strive toward restoring our sense of identity. Discriminating from our ego (false self) and our soul (true self).

By coming to terms with who we are, stripping ourselves from pride, we are further willing to submit and surrender our own lives and will over to our higher power. We come to understand our own meaning and purpose.

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Thoughtful meditation for today

Help me strip myself of pride and ego in order to continue to take a fearless and moral inventory in order to discover and restore who I am.

Be a Little Better Today

 

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God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

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This simple prayer is recited in the rooms of all sober support meetings. A prayer of peace, courage, and wisdom from one's higher power. For some, it is something one may say by rote. For others, it holds deep and significant spiritual meaning. Recovery requires us to seek insight and wisdom every day. This, hopefully, leads being courageous in order to become a little better. A simple prayer with a complex and interesting statement:  Written by Reinhold Niebuhr.

Niebuhr's prayer for serenity goes beyond the first stanza:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. 

Living one day at a time; accepting hardship as a pathway to peace; taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will; so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with you forever in the next. Amen. 

One Day at a Time

Peeling away from the cliche terms utilized in recovery, we begin to unpack the true principle meanings. One oft hears, take one day at a time! when it comes to recovery. Each day is a gift. How we live it daily determines if we are moving toward sobriety or moving back toward relapse and bondage to our substances. By taking one day at a time, we come to accept and experience the hardships of our recovery and life in order to understand how this may lead toward peace.

Accepting reality

While we desire to have our recovery and sense of serenity as we want to have it, we come to realize that we are to take our recover for what it really is. Accepting life on life's terms comes through understanding our inability to control, or manipulate, things. Our greatest downfall is our own illusion of control. Letting go of our control and surrender our life and our will to our Higher Power helps us come to comfort, peace, and gain wisdom.

Trusting requires faith and hope

As we focus on submitting our lives and wills over to a higher power, as we may understand, we gain faith and hope. For many, this is a difficult task. Despite any misgivings, the reality comes when we faithfully place our trust in a higher power, we are led to a life where things are made right. Healed relationships, restoration of health, increased vitality, emotional and mental stability, restoration in personal identity where there is meaning and purpose, ability to serve others, and re-established beliefs and values.

Requires complete and total surrender on our part

Recognition we are incapable of gaining wisdom, incapable of making things right, and recognition we are unable to trust our own self is the reason we come to realize our need to surrender our life and will over to our higher power. Our surrendering to a higher power means we understand we may be reasonably happy in our own recovery. Surrendering leads, us toward the higher goal of supreme happiness sobriety may offer us.

In this way, we come to resonate the truth of scripture:

Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you. ~ 2 Corinthians 13:11. 

Let us, therefore, be a little better today in recovery as we continually surrender our will and life over to our higher power in order to gain comfort, peace, and trust in the will of God as we realize we are not alone.

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Thoughtful Meditation for today

Today, I give my life and my will over to you as I seek to become a little better today in accepting the hardships of life that lead to peace. I know you are with me always and working through me to make things right.