Recovery is Surrendering One Step at a Time

Patiently Waiting for Change to Happen - "Let Go and Let God"

"Recovery comes from planting our 

determination into the soil of circumstance 

and  waiting patiently for the results." 

Jerry Brecheisen

Life today moves fast.  I place a frozen tray of food into the microwave for five minutes and speak to the microwave, "Hurry up!" I am impatient for change to happen. I live in an "instant response" world and I want recovery NOW!

Recovery comes one step at a time

Am I forgetting something?  How long did it take for me to get in this mess?  Was it a day?  Was it a week?  No, it was a series of poor choices over a long period of time.  Step by step I created my life mess.   

I was watching the A&E show on Hoarders last night.  This elderly woman loved dolls. The dolls brought her joy.  She would laugh when she looked into a doll's smiling and innocent face.  She loved dolls so much that one day she began to collect them.  Every time she was at the store, she would purchase a doll.  In time, her entire house was full of dolls.  She could not even sit in a chair, because the dolls were everywhere.  The doll obsession had become so overtaking that this dear woman had to have an intervention.  

A counselor and a professional organizer came to help her bring her life back into balance.  They were able to involve her in the process of donating the dolls to charity.  She had so many dolls it took several trucks to haul the dolls away.  

It all started with one doll and turned into a daily obsession with the daily compulsion to purchase a new  doll.  Dolls had taken over her life.  Her life with dolls was all consuming.  She had isolated herself with one daily desire - how to get more dolls.

What can you let Go of today? 

Obsessive behavior is like that - all consuming.  An interest becomes a hobby, a hobby becomes a passion, a passion becomes a daily ritual, a daily ritual becomes an hourly need, an hourly need becomes a life focus.   In Christian circles this all consuming focus on anything other than God is called idolatry.  The Bible says, "Thou shall have no other God's before me."  This means God is to be first and anything placed above God is an idol.  

Toddlers love to hold onto things and often place them in their mouth.  Consider the child who has found the remote control and will not let go.  Mama wants the remote control so she can watch television.  The child becomes stubborn and will not give Mama the remote control.  A wise mother will find a toy and offer it to the child - in exchange for the remote control.  This tactic of replacement is simple and works.  

Addiction can become like the remote control.  Stubbornly clinging to the addiction, a person will not let it go.  That is not until there is something better to cling to.  If God is our source of life, He can be the better thing to cling to.  Perhaps today can be the day to let go - to let God take control.  Cling to God and let Him be your all consuming passion.

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