Unshackled Moments ~ January 11, 2017 ~ Waiting For The Miracle

No matter what we are trying to learn in life it takes practice, patience, commitment and time. The longer you've done something the "wrong" way, the harder it is to learn to do it the right way because you have to unlearn the bad form/habits as well as learn the better way. As an example, many college basketball coaches recruit from other sports to find athletes with talent and ability but who don't play basketball. This way the athlete is a blank slate ready to absorb the coach's technique and the coach doesn't have to try to break their bad form. But even if you've spent years doing something one way, new ways can be learned with work and grace.

The same is true lasting and meaningful recovery from addiction. If your past is one of using something other than God to try to fill the emptiness, to self medicate feelings of unworthiness, rejection, fear, loneliness, etc,, for years, it will take time to rewire your body and brain to respond to life, reality and pressure differently. It's not likely to happen over night.

We need to have patience with ourselves and our recovery. That's not always easy. In truth, it seldom is. Most of our go-to solutions and the things that have us in bondage are one form of an instant gratification/fix or another. We will often do things that will make us feel worse later if only they will ease the suffering and discomfort in the short term quickly. But patience is necessary. True freedom and relief and peace may not come quickly but it is so much better.

We often want the results of long term sobriety and freedom in days, and it doesn't happen. While it is true that we may feel better almost immediately of getting clean, that "pink cloud" can fade and leave us with a lot of not fun work to do before life gets better again. We have to learn not to reach for our default answer and comfort and reach instead for the relief of God's presence. Turning to God first takes time to develop, because we've done it other ways for so long. Something within us still says if I just take one drink, use one time, look at a little porn, eat one piece of cake, make a bet, buy something......I'll feel better. But experience tells us that it only leads to misery, shame, guilt and other negative consequences moments after the rush of instant relief fades.

The painful truth is that we need to keep working and take the time to let the miracle happen. Recovery must grow as a fruit of our relationship with God, and that means a season of caring for the soil and the plant when we can't see the budding fruit before we can enjoy the results of the tree of life. But we have to take the actions that produce that fruit now and not look for shortcuts. God's timing is perfect, even when it doesn't feel like it. The more we actively choose to do the things that take us closer to God instead of choosing instant gratification, the more we rewire our reactions and the closer we get to the fruit of life we crave.

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