Recovery part 7
Maintaining Spiritual Momentum
As we’ve gone through the steps of Recovery, we have seen some hard steps to follow. The realization of the truth about our lives, the truth about the Gospel, and the truth about our relationships can be daunting to say the least. Even so, when we have successfully come this far, we will see miracles and new vigor in our lives. It is easy at this point to believe the work is over, or that life will be much smoother sailing from this point on. But, that would be a huge mistake. Let’s take a quick review.
R ealize I’m not God. I admit I’m powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and my life is unmanageable.
E arnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him, and that He has the power to help me recover.
C onsciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control.
O penly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust.
V oluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects.
E valuate all my relationships—offer forgiveness to those who’ve hurt me and make amends for harm I’ve done to others except when to do so would harm them or others.
Which leads to today’s …
R eserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will.
The goal of all these steps has been to shift our lives back into a right relationship with God and others so that we could accomplish the design for our life God gave us. Each of us have been carefully designed by God to fulfill a purpose and design. We are all each members of His Creation and each has a place in the grand tapestry that is humanity.
In fact, once we have gone through this difficult work of self-examination and restoring relationships, we find that the real work has just begun. Once you have a transformational experience with the Lord, it is time to put your new life to work. We tend to forget that even before the Fall, Adam and Eve had jobs to do in the Garden. The Garden wasn’t going to tend itself. Just as our first parents had jobs to do, even in Paradise, so, too, do we.
In order to discover the work God intends for us, we have to focus our minds and actions on Him. This focus is easy to talk about, but life has a way of distracting us. Additionally, if we aren’t careful, we can become so distracted that we fall into a spiritual trap that will lead to relapse for the addict. This step is discussed in Celebrate Recovery by focusing on what not to do in order to avoid relapse, but I think it will benefit us more today to focus on what to do. Therefore, I am going to quickly move through what causes people to relapse (which, by the way, are the same reasons even non-addicts fall into sin), and then we will look at what it means to seek God’s will for our lives.
The Problem of Relapse (or “How to fall into sin in 4 easy steps”)
For many addicts, the word “relapse” can be just as scary as the word is for cancer patients. Some of you may have been in this situation, or you know someone who has. The patient has gone through all the steps of recovery. They followed the doctor’s orders. They eat right. They exercise. They avoid all the things that used to give them pleasure, because they know these same things made them sick in the first place. After a long time, the doctor gives them the best news a patient can hear—“You are cancer free.” For the addict, they go through the process, and they believe they are doing great. The cravings are gone. They have a new circle of friends and a new support system. Their doctor says, “You are doing fantastic!”
Then, one day, something horrible happens. The patient feels funny and a bit sick. Their energy level isn’t what it should be. They go back to the doctor, and they hear the worst news possible—relapse. The cancer has returned.
That is how an addict feels when they fall back into old addictions. But for the addict, they also have to deal with the layers of guilt and the stigma that comes with relapsing. After all, for the cancer patient, they didn’t relapse from a moral failure. No one blames the patient for the cancer. But for the addict, it’s a different story.
The fact is, whenever an addict, or the Christian embattled against their sin, relapses, it tends to happen after a series of steps. Rarely does someone fall overnight. So what happens?
First, relapse happens from Complacency.
Any time we believe we are safe from sin or addiction, we put our guard down. And that is when the devil pounces.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8
No one walks through the jungle or savannah without keeping eyes peeled. Walking through life without our eyes open and watching for spiritual attacks is just as dangerous.
Second, relapse happens from Confusion.
Whenever we get complacent, we will then get confused. We start thinking we have more power than we do or the effects of sin weren’t as bad as we thought. We forget that we didn’t pull ourselves out of destruction. It was only through the power of Christ.
Paul wrote to the Galatians because they started believing a similar lie. This is what he told them in Galatians 3.
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
Galatians 3:1-6
The Galatians received Christ and knew they were saved by faith alone, but some false teachers came and confused them. They were complacent about who they listened to and started believing the lie again that they had to save themselves. Paul is reminding them they didn’t receive salvation based on their own merit or work. God did the work. They received the Holy Spirit by believing in Christ and surrendering to Him. When we forget that our salvation is solely based on God’s work in us, then we start thinking we can handle life on our own. This belief will inevitably lead to compromise.
Third, relapse happens from Compromise.
Many times when we talk about compromise, we think of it as doing the sin itself. There are two main definitions of “compromise.” In Christian circles, we tend to think of it as being weakened, harmed, or “being brought into disrepute by foolish actions.”
“They were compromised after falling into temptation.”
‘Compromise’ is the effect of their actions or their temptations. Instead, the Bible presents compromise as something that happens before the temptation. The Christian compromises between the standards of the world and God’s standards which inevitably leads to sin. Instead of continuing in the work God has laid out or maintaining the standards God has for us, the Christian says something like, “Oh, it’ll be fine just this one time.” But it won’t be fine.
For the simple are killed by their turning away,
and the complacency of fools destroys them;Proverbs 1:32
Fourth, relapse happens from Catastrophe.
That compromise leads us into temptation, and if we succumb, the sin leads us down the path of destruction again. But again, this process does not happen quickly. We did not fall back into our old habits and hangups all at once. It began when we first became complacent about our spiritual state.
The truth is we are always pursuing something. When we grow complacent, we will pursue comfort. We want the soft blanket to wrap ourselves in to avoid the problems of this world. But we can’t grow in our faith wrapped up in a blanket. If we are to grow in our faith, we have to pursue the mission of God. When we make that our pursuit, then we will grow in faith and avoid relapsing into sin.
Pursuing God’s Will (while preventing relapse)
Pursuing God’s will begins with our step for today.
R eserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will.
We have to actually make time for God. Now, I know there are a myriad of reasons why people can’t seem to find time to pray, read their Bible, or just reflect on their day. Remember, I am the king of finding justifications and excuses myself. This ability is why I can always sniff out someone’s poor excuse for their behavior. Chances are, I’ve used it myself at some point.
There’s an oldie by the Kingsmen called “Excuses” that is worth listening to. There are a million excuses people have for missing church. There are a million more for why they fail to meet with God regularly. Instead of offering excuses, we must remember what Jesus tells us.
Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Mark 14:38
We may have the best of intentions for our walk with God, but if we do not “watch and pray,” we will inevitably fall into temptation and sin.
Pursuing God’s will requires an active watch over our lives.
Now, Step 7 says it should be a “daily time” with God. Many, many Christians struggle with that word ‘daily.’ What’s wrong with ‘weekly’ or ‘monthly’? After all, if someone isn’t having any quiet times with God, wouldn’t at least a monthly session be progress? Well, maybe, but let’s try that logic with another aspect of life.
How often do you take out the trash? In my house, there are five of us—me, the wife, and three kids. Somehow, we are able to accumulate a lot of trash. Even during the week when we are all at school and jobs, somehow the trash just keeps growing. How long would it take for disease and pestilence to set in if I decided to take out the trash only monthly or after it has piled up a lot? It would be difficult to get anything done if I was swimming through garbage every time I came home.
The reason some Christians never seem to accomplish things for God is because they are too busy swimming through spiritual garbage. The cares of this world, the temptations of sin, and their past hurts and hangups are still all around them. Even those who have confessed their sins to God and gone through the steps of recovery have fallen back into old habits and old natures so much that sin is just all around them. They can’t hear God’s voice because they haven’t taken out the trash.
This is why it is crucial to spend time with God and examine your ways.
Let us test and examine our ways,
and return to the Lord!Lamentations 3:40
Evaluate your spiritual health as you would your physical health. How often should you see a doctor? Most people would say as often as you are sick. But how often should you take care of your physical needs? Do you wait to eat until you go to an annual appointment? Do you sleep only when a health emergency happens? No, good physical health happens with daily practice of eating right, exercise, and avoiding those things that cause us harm. Spiritual health is much the same. We must daily exercise our faith, intake Scripture, and avoid those traps of sin.
Pursuing God requires daily effort because each day will come with its own set of trouble.
This is why having a group of Christian friends to help hold you accountable is so crucial. When we face life alone, we are more prone to discouragement and failure. We must have a team of people with us to hold each other up.
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Christianity was never meant to be a solo sport. God did not design humans to live alone. Despite all the introverts’ best efforts, humans still need each other.
Pursuing God is easier done together because God never considered it a solo sport.
As we close today, I want to leave you with a challenge. For most of you, Step 7 is nothing new. In fact, it’s actually a very “Sunday School answer”—pray and read your Bible. “Easy, done, can we go home?”, you’ll say. But pray more and read your Bible more is not the challenge. By all means, you absolutely should, but that’s not the challenge.
The challenge is this:
Find two people this week and purposefully meet together to discuss your Christian walk. Talk about what God has been doing in your life. Talk about what you think the next steps in your faith may be. Maybe you are already in a Sunday School class. If so, you’re already a bit ahead of others. But before your get excited, I want you to find two people that meet a very specific criteria.
One person is someone you consider more mature than you in their faith. Maybe it’s someone who is a bit older and wiser. Maybe it’s someone you’ve seen step out in faith. Maybe it’s someone who shares their faith regularly or seems to understand the Bible more. Whatever you consider “more mature in their faith” make it someone you believe you can learn from.
The other person is someone you believe is newer to faith than you. Maybe it’s a younger person, or it may just be someone who hasn’t been at the church as long. Again, whatever criteria you think works, just make sure it’s someone you believe God wants you to come alongside to help in their faith walk.
Now, if each of you go out and find these two people, what is going to happen is you will have a neat little group. It may be just a few people or it may end up being quite a bit. Try to keep it around the 6 person mark. Six people is something of a magic number because it’s big enough that no one person feels like they have to carry the whole conversation, yet small enough that everyone feels like they can contribute. If it’s more or less, that’s fine. It’s not an exact science.
Once your little group is together, begin in prayer. Pray over the meeting asking God to bless the time, discussion, and the food. (You have 6 people together, you have to be eating.) Go around and answer these two questions:
What has God been doing recently in your life?
What do you think God wants you to do next?
Once you have those answers, then make a plan for how you can accomplish what God has told the group. Do you want to hear something really crazy? If you let God guide this whole process, from getting your two people together through the entire discussion, you will discover that what God has been nudging you to do, He has told others to do the same. Once you know what that is, and who God has placed in your life to help, then you have your mission.
And when you have a mission, it’s time to get to work!