Getting Started
September is National Recovery Month the Theme for This Year is: Recovery is for Everyone: Every Person, Every Family Every Community. Yes, Recovery IS for Everyone, let’s get started. There are many paths to Recovery and tools to help. The 12 Steps is a tool that can be used enhance one’s relationship with God and others. Start with STEP ONE and incude the Bible Related Text.
STEP ONE, We admitted that we were powerless over our dependencies – that our lives had become unmanageable.
I know nothing good lives in me, that is in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out (Romans 7:17)
Father In the Name of Jesus I ask for your help me with my recovery. I am lost and not sure of who I am and who I belong to. Deliver me from the denial that has kept me from seeing how powerless I am and how unmanageable my life has become. I cannot manage my life or the lives of others. Teach me to trust you. The best thing I can do right now is to let go and let God, your will not mine, Amen
It seems like the FIRST STEP is always the hardest and that everything is pushing against us, so that we won’t accept that we have a problem. STEP ONE is about admitting our brokenness. Pride and ego work against us when we cry out for help. We have been taught to think and act like, “I can handle it.” STEP ONE brings us to the point where we must admit that we can’t handle it, we are not good. It’s admitting that we are in trouble and that we need help. Powerlessness means that we don’t have the power to heal ourselves or fix our own problems. This step forces us to admit that we have done a very poor job in managing our own lives. It also points out that there is not much hope to expect things are going to get better if we continue to do things the same way. The end of our denial is the beginning of recovery.
We have gotten to the point where we admit that life is not working for us anymore. For some of us, our lives never did work the way we wanted it to. We must quit deceiving and lying to ourselves that things are OK when everything in our lives continues to crumble. Our addictive behaviors cause us to rationalize life’s circumstances even when there is more than enough evidence that things are a hot mess. We are stubborn people and hold out to the bitter end. Most of us only admit to the reality of how bad things are when we hit bottom and have no choice. There are different bottoms, some people can think and ask for help before they lose everything, others have experience long periods of pain and suffering before they get to the point where they are willing to deal with their problems.
Whatever it takes to come to an end and decide to change, is a good thing. A Biblical example of hitting bottom and admitting powerlessness is found in the story of the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15:11-31. This is the story where the rebellious son demanded his share of the family money and he left home to be able to manage his own life and do whatever he wanted. The son went to a faraway city and spent his money on wild living. He obviously had an addictive personality and behaviors. He wasted all his money on living wildly and ended up broke and broken, working a job feeding pigs. At that point, he realized pigs were better off than he was because he was hungry and wanted to eat the pig’s food! We can’t miss the point here – that when he was living under control of the father, he was living in comfort as a blessed son. While living under his addictions and self-will, he was near death. “When he came to his senses, he said `How many of my father’s workers have plenty of food and here I am starving!” (Luke 15:17) He got up and returned to his father where he was loved, forgiven and restored.
STEP ONE can be summed up in a few words “I have a problem and I need help!” It is the beginning to working the other steps. Surrender is not an easy thing to do. It is not easy to let go and trust that things will work out. We will experience withdrawal: confusion, sadness, fear or other emotions. This is normal, it is important to remember that surrender is hard! It requires mental, emotional and spiritual work.
GET STARTED, DON’T QUIT! A NEW LIFE OF FREEDOM IS ON THE WAY!!!
Vision of Recovery believes in a non-denominational Christian perspective to Wellness. We integrate biblically based beliefs with counseling and coaching interventions to treat the whole person—emotionally, physically and spiritually.