He is Mighty
/God, or a higher power, is a large part of the culture in addiction recovery circles. He's central in 12 step programs and His position can be elevated or subdued in other programs, but He's nearly always in the culture.
This aspect of the culture infuses our recovery efforts with the hope of being healed from addiction by an external source. Some of us know people who have had experiences with God after which they feel sometimes instantly, but always lastingly healed of addiction. The rest of us have heard rumors of these people. For me, it prompts the question: Why, then, does our culture, even within 12-step groups, seem to rest most heavily on self-help principles?
I love that my recovery group studies topics like goal-setting, self-mastery, connection, wounds, and boundaries. They have provided me insights and a measure of peace and hope, but not lasting recovery. Adding more God and especially shifting weight to the expectancy of an experience with Him advanced my recovery.
I recently read the book, "He is Mighty to Save" by Vardell Taylor which reinforced my conviction that my recovery is entirely a result of God's intervention. Taylor chronicles his experience with God in which he is nearly instantly changed after finding himself in desperate despair over his sins and his failing family business. He begins his story with what we might call 'rock bottom'. He was completely defeated at his moment with God and he fully embraced that defeat. In that moment, he begged God for mercy and he got it. Tears flowed as peace, forgiveness, and healing washed over him. His life was never again the same.
The book continues with Taylor's search for an explanation for what happened in that moment. His suggestion that he was able to identify a formula is the backbone of the book. Here are some highlights of his formula as I understand it.
Understand my nature: I'm nothing. Without Him, I will fail. Ultimately, I can't do it.
Understand God's nature: He IS love. He's pleased, not disappointed; close, not distant; engaged, not distracted; safe, not dangerous. He's mighty, not weak and He's eager to use His power for me. He can do it. He doesn't want to make me a drone, He wants to make me more me.
Accept that a moment will come when this all combines in a powerful mix of despair and hope and embrace it when it does.
In that moment, surrender and cry out for His mercy.
In Taylor's moment of surrender, the weight of hope had shifted from self to God. He was nothing and God was everything. His efforts had failed and a measure of trust that God could help was present. Taylor uses the word Redemption to describe what followed his surrender. He emphasizes that redemption isn't perfection; that God offers it even though He sees our future shortcomings.
This redemption is not just worth it - it's amazing! Taylor's book strongly resonates with me because years ago, I had an experience with God that parallels his. Prior to that moment, I was an addict, afterward, I was not. This wasn't a panacea; life still presents its challenges, and I continue to battle temptation. However, I now have control, and my compulsions no longer dominate me. Further, this book has strengthened my resolve to continue a fruitful practice of daily surrender in which I acknowledge my nothingness and God's might. I've found a productive balance between this and the pursuit of the benefits of self-help.
Self-help's ultimate gift is its ability to draw me to a moment in which my reliance on it is burned up and I am left empty handed at the doorstep of God's mercy. It's precisely when self-help fails that I can reach for and find God.
"A serious moral effort (self-help) is the only thing that will bring you to the point where you throw up the sponge (throw in the towel). Faith in Christ is the only thing to save you from despair at that point."
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
"I had never been taught that at some point my decision to follow Christ would actually lead to feeling worthless and fallen. I had never heard that feeling discouraged was normal-even beneficial, and just another temporary step in my progression."
― Vardell Taylor, He is Mighty to Save
By Ty, Writing Team