Recovery Step 2: No Fresh Paint

It is a rusted out piece of junk. The thing sat in an old chicken coop for decades after the chickens were gone. The coop was to be torn down so we were going through and removing the contents. That’s when it was spotted. An old tin feeder that kind of looked like a mailbox you’d hang on the wall by your front door. There was a hinged lid on top and the bottom rounded out to a tray where the chickens ate. Soon it was in our car and headed to our house. It sat, once again forgotten, with some other “treasures” until this past week. The outdoor furniture was making its spring appearance and several of the pieces needed some fresh paint. Suddenly the old chicken feeder ended up on my work bench and in line for a paint job.

I must confess that it is kind of a cool looking thing. I cleaned it up, that is I removed much of  the dirt and cob webs and such, but I didn’t go so far as to sand and repair the metal. Instead I got out some thick metal-preserving paint and slapped on a thick coat. Painting down inside was challenging and I did what I could, but even with my OCD I didn’t get it all. I almost impressed myself though as it actually looks pretty good!

Here is what I was thinking while working on the old rusted out chicken feeder. This is exactly what many people try to do in recovery. In some cases you have the addict him or herself who, no longer in denial, takes steps to clean themselves up. They go to meetings, try to fill their time and thoughts with other things, maybe get a sponsor or even check into a rehab. In other cases you have a friend or loved one who tries to clean the addict up. They attempt to limit the addict’s access to the object of addiction, they talk and talk and talk to the addict about stopping and changing habits and friends, they drop the addict off at meetings or maybe even force them into rehab.

The problem is that way too often all that we’re really doing is trying to apply a fresh coat of paint to the outside to make things look better, when the work that’s really needed is on the inside. Slapping some fresh paint on the outside can be messy, but it is much easier than getting into the deep crevices and hard to reach places on the inside. Of course, if you really want to be made new, if recovery is to be complete, then you must work on the inside. That chicken feeder with the fresh paint will look good for awhile, but inside, in the places I couldn’t or wouldn’t take the time and effort to reach, will continue to rust and decay. That corruption will continue to spread, right up under that fresh paint, eating away at the metal. One day some time from now, it may be a year or even several years, I’m going to give the thing more than just a glancing look. I’ll examine it and realize it is rusting away before my eyes. Left to its own, it will eventually just fall apart right there were I put it. Oh, I might slap another coat of paint on to extend its existence a few more years, but like a cancer, that rust will eventually destroy it.

Recovery is not about appearances. It isn’t about cleaning up one problem by switching over to a new one. It is not about continually applying new coats of fresh paint over rusted corrosion. Recovery is about truth, healing, and lasting change. It is about dealing with the root problem(s) down in the crevices and hard to reach places, to bring healing instead of just a covering. Any medical professional knows that healing a deep wound means working from the inside out; you can’t cover such a wound with a bandage and leave the inside to fester and rot.

That’s why Step 1 and 2 are so important. You cannot fix those deep wounds by yourself. You’ve tried, I am sure, just like the rest of us, and you find yourself still struggling after all your attempts. You cannot heal yourself. Healing takes truth and you probably don’t even know what the truth is, at least not all of it. Seriously, addictions are built upon deceit and lies. You have to cover things, the façade gives you access to your addiction. This has gone on so long you can’t even tell the truth from the lies anymore. Maybe you’re in disagreement with this, because maybe you’re still in denial. Healing requires truth and as addicts, we don’t know much about truth. Nor can we know truth about our situation because we don’t actually know what is happening in anyone else’s mind. Oh, we think we know what the truth is. We convince ourselves that we know what that person did and why they did it, or why they said it. We know their motivation and we know all the complexities of how this mess came about! But that is a lie because we do not know. There is someone who knows and that is why He must lead you in your recovery. He is God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Principle 1 / Step 1 say that we need to realize that we are not God and that we are powerless to do the right thing.

Principle 2 / Step 2 introduces us to the One who does have the power to make us new and who cares about us enough to do so, if we trust Him and cooperate.

Maybe you are someone who realizes that you struggle with some addiction(s). Maybe you are someone who feels helpless as you watch someone you care about struggle with addiction(s). Either way, your only hope is the God who loves you and loves the people you care about also.

The Bible contains the accounts of many people who met and trusted God and were made new. There are also accounts of many who met God and did not trust Him, who then continued down the path of self-destruction. Now, we often focus on the ones who trusted God, but for this post I want to consider one who decided to trust in himself.

You may not have heard of him, most have not, but you may know his father’s name. His name was Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat. Do either of those names sound familiar? Perhaps Jehoshaphat does from the phrase “jumpin’ Jehoshaphat.” By the way, I’ve tried over the years to find a connection between the Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and that phrase. So far I have found no satisfactory link. Anyway, Jehoshaphat did “what was right in the sight of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 20:32). He knew, loved and followed the Lord God. Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram, however, “did evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 21:6). One of the first things Jehoram did as king was kill his six brothers and some other people as well. He also set up idols throughout Judah and led the people to worship false gods instead of the One True God. Jehoram was a murderer, idolater and he led people away from God.

The prophet Elijah sent the word of the Lord to Jehoram in a letter. That letter started with, “Thus says the Lord God of your father David.” It rebuked Jehoram because he, “made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot like the harlotry of the house of Ahab, and also have killed your brothers, those of your father’s household” (2 Chronicles 21:12-13).

Keep in mind that Jehoram grew up in his father’s house where God was known, worshipped, and loved. Jehoram knew about God and had witnessed God’s work in his father’s life. He, however, forsook faith in God and did things his own way, becoming a murderous idolater who corrupted others. He was like the deep rusted corrosion in that chicken feeder, corrupting not only at himself, but also the people around him.

Thus, when God pronounced judgment upon Jehoram, it wasn’t out of the blue. It’s not like God just showed up one day and brought the hammer down on someone who had no idea what he was doing. On the contrary, Jehoram knew about God and God patiently gave him time to repent of his evil and yield to His mercy, forgiveness and redemption. He was thirty-two when he became king and he ruled for another eight years. God graciously gave this guy forty years, and for forty years Jehoram refused, rejected, and rebelled against the God who cared about him. Along the way he killed his own brothers and led other people into evil as well. You can understand why this patient and longsuffering God eventually had to put a stop to the evil. Moreover, God warned him ahead of time and he still refused to yield to God’s grace.

Jehoram couldn’t change himself; he couldn’t stop his addictive habits on his own and God didn’t expect him to do it on his own. What Jehoram did do was refuse God’s mercy and help.

God is the expert at human refurbishment. He is the Master at removing the deepest corruption and making all things new. What makes Him the only One able to help you recover is that nothing is hidden from Him; He knows the absolute truth of every situation. He knows your heart, your intentions desires, thoughts, words and deeds. He also knows all of that about everyone else too. He knows what they did to you and why. He knows what she said to you and exactly what she meant by it. He knows what that guy did behind your back that you don’t even know about. Not only does He know the perfect truth of everything, He cares about you. In fact, He loves you with a perfect love, demonstrated by the fact that His Son, Jesus Christ, died to pay the penalty for your sin and rebellion. By the way, God loves those other people too, yes, even them, her and that guy. In the process of redeeming and changing you, He fixes relationships.

Maybe you are struggling with some addiction(s) or maybe you are watching someone you love destroy themselves with addiction(s) and hurt others in the process. There is hope. Hope is not found in trying harder. Hope is found in trusting, following and loving God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit who do not just put on another layer of fresh paint. They make even the deepest parts new. Trust Him.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Mark