Lacerate

TRUTH

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?

James‬ ‭2‬:‭5

REFLECTION

Everything is backwards. Faith is misdirection; to lose is to win; trying for everything gets you nothing.

The cliches go on, but they also hold true. Especially in recovery and in matters of faith.

My greatest motivation in active addiction was self-fulfillment. I slowly put down my holds on healthy things in the pursuit of gratifying myself.

And the end result left me spent and empty and scared.

Once sober and crawling back to faith, a new version of the same problem cropped up.

I wanted healing, direction, freedom. New pursuits. Good pursuits. But without centering mechanism, without an anchor, I risk being just as lost as when I arrived in sobriety.

And yet…

Despite the tendency to distort our priorities to suit ourselves, God is able to use these misconceptions of our own self-interest for the good of others.

It’s not all the right decisions that first pave a way to help a newcomer. It’s the mistakes, the heartaches, the wrong paths that we can share as guideposts for them.

My inability to course-correct my own life is now a tool to both guide my present steps as well as share with others.

It’s easy to compare my insides with other people’s outsides and despair of ever stacking up. But often, God uses the broken bits of us to save lives.

I must remain willing to share and open to receive His courage.

God, I don’t like the scars but help me not ignore them.

SPONSOR

Reflection and gratitude are invaluable in recovery. Gratitude Plus is a social gratitude journal with an anonymous global feed. Try Gratitude Plus now.

NEXT

When you’re ready, here are some tools for you:

1. Book List (amazon link)
   Some of my favorite reads related to recovery and/or wrestling with faith.

2. 4th Step Guide (free download)
   A PDF with instructions and worksheets for a thorough 4th step. Straight from the Big Book. Fearlessness not included.

3. 12-Step Christianity (YouTube)
   My thoughts on the parallels between discipleship and sponsorship.

KEEP LEANING FORWARD

Cheers, Eamonn
Contact on LinkedIn, YouTube & Twitter.