Celebrate Recovery

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. — Proverbs 3:5-6

When a friend of mine received his one-year recovery chip, he told me that he felt he was now in uncharted territory. My friend is thirty-five, but he hasn’t been sober for this long since he was ten years old. This can be a scary place — and many of us have been there.

It occurs to me, though, that uncharted territory could be a great place to be. It just means that we are exploring places we haven’t been before. And we can do this because Jesus is with us.

I’m reminded of the Bible account of the apostle Peter walking on the water. He was the only one brave enough to step out of the boat and into uncharted territory when Jesus said,

Come to Me.

Peter took a few steps before losing his courage and starting to sink. But Jesus was there to take his hand and pull him up.

We shouldn’t hesitate to step confidently into our new lives. As long as we are strong and courageous, we might even walk on water as long as we keep our eyes on Jesus. But even if our courage deserts us and we begin to sink, Jesus is there to both save us and keep us safe.

Prayer

Lord God, I turn my face to You as I walk into the new life You have given me. Thank You for keeping me safe as I step out of the boat and onto the water. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
 

Trusting God
 

When we choose to go God’s way, we are often asked to do the exact opposite of what we would naturally do:

• We want to get even, but God says to forgive.
• We want to get more, but God says to give more.
• We want to be served, but God tells us to serve others.
• We want to be the most important, but God says we must humble ourselves and become the least.

This reversal will seem odd for a while. It might even make us question our trust in God. But as we continue to admit that living life our way didn’t pan out (in fact, it was a huge failure, just barely survivable), we will begin to see the wisdom in God’s way of doing things. And later on we will even begin to see that God’s way removes the striving from our lives and allows us to rest peacefully in His care.

It’s always an adjustment when we decide to do something different. Our brains have to be retrained, reprogrammed. But if we are faithful to continue, trusting God, His ways will begin to overrule our own. That’s when we can finally begin to relax and enjoy our new lives.

Prayer

Father, sometimes it’s difficult for me to understand why You ask me to do certain things, but I will be obedient knowing that each new thing strengthens and establishes my new life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Excerpted from Celebrate Recovery 365 Day Devotional by John Baker.