Funny how it is easy to have faith in a Higher Power when things are going well, isn’t it? Somehow, someway, it never seems that hard when things are going smooth…
Fast forward to when everything around us is falling apart. Suddenly, it isn’t so easy.
That is what proves the strength of our drug and alcohol recovery program on an individual basis—the hard times.
Like preparing for any disaster, though, it is what you do before things get rough that determines how well we weather the storm.
Contrary to popular belief, meetings are not where drug and alcohol recovery is found. Recovery is found with our sponsors and with those of whom we sponsor, as well as our contact with a Higher Power. That said, meetings are where we find our sponsors and sponsees, as well as participate in fellowship in general. So, make no mistake; meetings are a vital component to the faith solution.
While we are on the topic of sponsees and sponsors: it is probably best that you have a sponsor and at least one sponsee. Working the Steps with a newcomer helps keep the material fresh and reminds us of our own stories and experiences. When we see the transformations in others, it is hard to deny that the works of a Higher Power are involved.
It isn’t all miracles and handholding, though.
It is enduring the times that make us uncomfortable. Pain is the touchstone to spiritual growth, as one man put it. Ultimately, it is the willingness to wade through those dark waters, not knowing what lies beneath, but trusting full well that we will be okay.
Clichés and “frothy emotional appeal” might work in the moment, but there wil come a day when the real addict or alcoholic has no defense against the first drink or drug. The only thing that can save him or her in that moment is their faith in a Higher Power—something beyond themselves.
What are the worst parts about these challenges? They are awful, and yet they often provide something so fundamentally helpful and beneficial to us and to our spiritual condition that we cannot fully appreciate them until long after we have walked through the fire of hardship through which we walk. In short, they just suck.
At least, they just suck for the short term. In the long term, they are still undoubtedly painful and miserable to endure, but later, we can look back and in an almost-perverse-but-not-quite way, appreciate what those times have done for us.
That said, I personally have yet to go through one of them that I wanted to go through again, and every so often, they raise their heads and let their lessons be known again.
I heard once in a meeting that God never gives you more than you can handle. I disagree with that. That said; he hasn’t yet given me anything more than He can handle.
Given the option of having faith in a Higher Power or faith in my power, I’m glad that the results are His, and not mine.