Recovery Step 3: Trust

If you’ve been in recovery for more than a week you’ve probably heard a common definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. There is no shortage of insanity these days; the news is full of it. Conspiracy theories are flying from all sides and who knows, some of them may have some truth. That’s just the thing, who really knows the truth about any of this jumbled up mess interwoven with major political, social, and economic implications. Everyone’s got an agenda, an angle, and is trying to get their way because everyone is convinced their way is best.

It seems that the entire world is in need of Step 1, “We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable.” I’ve learned just enough in this life to know that if everything ran my way, things would still be messed up because I do not know what is best and I don’t always do the right thing. That’s why I make every attempt to yield to God’s way because He actually does know what is best and He always does the right thing. God’s Word says in 1 Corinthians 3:19, “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their own craftiness,’ and again, ‘The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.’” That the wisdom of mankind is foolishness is unquestionably on display right now. Who do you believe and who do you trust when every expert has “evidence” contradicting some other expert? You trust God.

The Bible has been studied, examined, critically cross-examined, mocked, ridiculed, and proven able to withstand the onslaught of attacks while giving life, peace and hope to those who believe. Trusting God is where Step 2 begins, “We came to believe that God could restore us to sanity.” We face situations and battles that are out of our control. Many of them are actually spiritual battles that involve misplaced worship. Worship is something we will do in one way or another. Some people worship alcohol, drugs, and/or sex. Many others worship gambling, sports, leisure, codependency and/or work. Many people, however, worship self. A characteristic of self-worship is constantly trying to find self-satisfaction, even when it is destructive or hurtful to self and others. Let’s consider an easy example: if someone is a workaholic, work and things related to it take priority in the person’s mind. Relationships with family and friends become minor by comparison, to the point of neglect. Oh, there are times of moderation, but thoughts remain constant and bingeing occurs often also. If God is ever even thought of, He is usually treated as a good luck charm or last hope if things go bad. That does not qualify as trusting God.

Trusting God means giving Him full control of your life. Step 3 says, “We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.” In Step 3 you don’t really know how to turn your life and will over to God and quite frankly, whatever it is you worship will fight hard against that process. It will take time to learn to trust Him, not because He is in any way insufficient, but because our old habits and desires get in the way. Step 3 is a decision to turn our life and will over to God. Learning to let go of our will and follow His is a life-long endeavor that needs to happen every day.

In our church’s Bible reading plan we’ve recently been reading Old Testament passages about God working in the life of David. Back in mid-March we came to the account of David’s home being attacked in 1 Samuel 30. David and his men returned home only to find everything burned with fire and their wives and children gone. Imagine everything and everyone in your home destroyed and/or missing. Did David fall into destructive practices, take his own life, loose faith in God, or even accuse God?  He did not. The first thing he did was weep bitterly, “until he had no more power to weep” (1 Samuel 30:4). Then, according to 30:6, “David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” Then David sought from the Lord what to do next. David knew the situation was beyond his power to do anything, so he yielded his life and will to God’s care and control as he usually did. David then sought to know what the Lord wanted him to do

Let me ask you a question at this point: if you’ve been ignoring God all along or even just for a while, how will you know if your answer is from Him? People talk themselves into all kinds of foolishness, especially when they still have an ear tuned to some addictive habit or some resentment. Here is the first clue, what God tells you will never contradict what the Bible says…His word to you cannot contradict His written Word! Of course you need to be reading His Word to know what it says. David trusted in God alone, and the vast majority of the time, his life and actions proved it. David did exactly what God said, and God restored everything.

The enemy is after you too. Your enemy’s weapons include alcohol, drugs, lust, resentment, anger, materialism, greed, and a variety of others. His arsenal is full and he knows exactly which ones are most effective on you because he has used them before and they work. By the way, if you do manage to avoid attacks in one area, the attacks will come in other areas. The enemy is relentless, filled with lies, deceit, hate and murder. Your spiritual enemy not only attacks you, but attacks your family also (sometimes through you) and he may even take some of them captive. Your addiction, your worship of anything other than God, will damage and even destroy your life and your relationships. By the way, the enemy’s weapons are much more effective when you are isolated.

But like Step 3 tells us, you and I can decide to trust God and turn our lives over to Him. One of the hardest parts is deciding to do so (we really like worshipping ourselves and we deny how destructive it becomes). In Jesus Christ you are never alone…although you can isolated yourself from Him too. I would encourage you to take a moment and read Ephesians 1 just to remind yourself of how much God has lavished you with His grace, mercy, kindness, patience, provision and love.

Trust God. Turn your life and will over to Him. You’ll be glad you did because He will start to bring peace, joy, and sanity to your life and the lives of those around you.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Mark