Recovery - A Process or An Event?
“...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 (NIV)
Breaking Free
Those of us who are in recovery from alcohol and substance misuse or indeed any addictive behaviour may have experienced those moments where we say “enough is enough” or “today is the day that I quit for good” or, maybe more likely, “I will pull myself together tomorrow”. We are often sincere and well-intentioned when we say these things and really demoralised if our plans don’t work out. Surely we should be able to make a decision and just stick to it? We may have been able to do that in other areas of our lives or seen friends just stop drinking or using drugs overnight because they were simply “done with it”. When we see that others seem to be able to take control so quickly, it is easy to feel like a failure, a weak person, stupid or even bad. The reality is usually that we are dealing with true addiction- something affecting us bodily, psychologically and spiritually. It is not the same as someone drinking too much for a while then realising it’s a bad idea and stopping. This runs deep and it usually takes much more than a single decision to break free.
That being said, we should never stop taking those decisions to break free from addiction, to draw a line under using alcohol and other drugs once and for all and to move forward. If we have a string of setbacks in the early stages, the best we can do is learn from them - about ourselves, our triggers, what addiction is and how we might do things differently next time.
We must be willing to enter into a process of breaking free, always with the intention of not falling back but with the commitment that whatever happens, we will surrender it all to God and make sure the experience isn’t wasted. If we have become physically dependent on alcohol or other substances, the best decision we can make is to follow the advice of medical professionals and substance misuse workers to safely detox and begin recovery- certainly a process rather than an event but a much safer and more reliable route to freedom from addiction.
After Active Addiction
When we have detoxed from alcohol and other drugs there are excellent, God-inspired recovery pathways (such as the 12 Step program) that firm up our resolve around our new way of life, draw us closer to God and facilitate the deeper changes we need to make in order to really put our addictions behind us.
If things are going well for us in early sobriety, we’re feeling healthy, positive and not even tempted to return to our addictions, we may feel that the work is done. As Christians, we may feel that God has freed us from the addictions that were doing so much harm to us and perhaps really changed our hearts in the process. Our relationship with God may have been transformed and we may be in a thriving Christian community or church. In that case, hallelujah! There is no one like our God. As it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Free of alcohol and drugs we will now be more able than we’ve ever been to live out our true identity as children of God. It’s tempting to think that we can instantly step into the fullness of this truth. The journey out of addiction has already been long enough, right? And our pasts are forgiven so it can feel like time to just move on. The danger of this is that we can bypass some of the most important elements of strong long-term recovery.
Conversely, some will get clean and sober but be overcome with a sense of hopelessness. If we simply abstain from the things that we have relied on for so long for comfort, courage and serenity we can quickly reach what feels like a painful dead end in our recovery. We might feel guilty or lacking in faith because we’re not getting the benefits of sobriety that others are. This can lead to real unhappiness and relapse. It is likely that we need to engage with the next bit of our recovery process in order to restore a sense of hope and progress.
Miracles in the Process
The experience of many Christians in recovery is that we need to learn to live in our new freedom and regrow after addiction and this takes time, accountability and often spiritual disciplines around prayer, self-examination and challenge, repairing relationships and helping others to do the same. As we do this, the Holy Spirit is working miracles and regenerating us in the entire process. It may not be an overnight sensation but taking a long view, one can see the unmistakable work of God throughout.
By showing up to the process of recovery long-term, we are honouring and glorifying God, trusting in his commands, trusting in the experience of those who have gone before us and being trained to be channels of God’s grace to the next person in need.
Are we waiting for God or is God waiting for us?
Getting clean and sober and building a new life in recovery is not usually easy. God makes it possible, gives us strength, hope and his Spirit but we will still face challenges. Detoxing is often uncomfortable at times. Early sobriety can be tough. Facing ourselves in order to change can be painful. But the benefits are infinite and God is with us at every stage of the process. While “waiting on God” can sound like a faith-filled approach, if we wait on God to make each step an easy one, we may not get anywhere. God will not leave us or forsake us if we step out in faith, seek help and enter into a process of detox and recovery.
A Prayerful Reflection
LORD, thank you for being a source of infinite hope as we journey from the darkness of addiction towards true freedom in Christ and into all that you have for our lives. Please give us the courage to keep stepping out in faith and engaging with the process of ongoing recovery, whatever stage we’re at. Amen.