Twelve Steps To Recovery Part 2
Scripture: James 2:19-20; Romans 4:4-8; Luke 15:11-20;
Introduction
Last week I discussed the first step to recovery. The first step consisted of our admitting that we are powerless over our addictions and that our lives have come unmanageable. This first step requires us to be honest with ourselves. As long as we do not believe that we have addictions, we have absolutely no motivation to change. Those habits that have plagued us for years continue to be present in our lives. Those things that we have tried to change have now become so ingrained within us that it is easier to allow them to remain than to try to change. It is much easier for me to blame others for my problems than to be honest with myself and recognize that the problem is mine. If you have taken the first step and admitted to yourself that you are powerless when it comes to changing, you are now ready to take the second step.
I. Accepting and Believing In God
The second step consists of our coming to believe that a Power (God) greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Everyone under the sound of my voice or is reading this via email have come to understand that God exists. You may also have moved further by accepting Him as the head of your life. However, there are a multitude of people who believe that God exists yet do not accept Him in their lives and those lost souls who do not believe that God exists at all and are left to handle their own issues based on their own limited knowledge. For this message, I only want to address those of us who believe that God exists, regardless of the religious denomination we are associated with.
In order to move towards to the second step, there must be a belief in a higher Power, whom we refer to as God, and an acceptance of Him. Why do I say there must be an acceptance of Him? If you look at the second part of step 2, you will find that once you believe in the higher Power, you must also believe that this higher Power could restore us to sanity. In order to believe that God is able to restore us, we must first accept Him which goes further than just believing in Him. Consider what James said in James 2:19-20. “You believe that God is one, you do well; the demons also believe and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?” James was addressing a situation concerning the relationship between works and faith. Some believed that their works was enough while others believed that their faith was enough. In reference to our lesson this morning, I want you to consider if just believing (faith) in God is enough.
In the second part of verse nine James said “…the demons also believe and shudder.” Just believing in God is not enough; we must also come to the point of accepting Him. The demons know that God exists, yet they will end up in the burning fire. Knowing that God exists and accepting Him as the head of our lives are two separate things. To accept God is to believe in Him and His desire for our good. It extends beyond our belief that He exists. As far back as our history goes, man has believed that there was “something” out there that was greater than himself. Although our history started with Adam and Eve and their knowledge of God, as the years passed, man began to diverge from this belief to accept that there are many gods that were influencing what was happening around them. This shifting came about because there was this inward desire within man not to be controlled by anyone or anything, unless it was on their terms. So the God that created all things and had established guidelines for man as to how we should strive to live on earth became the “unpopular” God that was restraining their will to live freely. Although man was pulling away from God, God had a plan that for those who would eventually accept Him. Now understand this, God is not trying to prove to anyone that He exists. He has given us all of the evidence that we need and He has placed within us the knowledge that He exists. This is the only explanation why those with no knowledge of God made their own gods to worship. There was “something” within all of us that lets us know that there is a higher being. The fact and proof that God exists is so overwhelming that it takes more faith to believe that God does not exist than it does to accept that He does. We either accept that He is or we don’t, He is through trying to prove it. But once we believe that He exists, we must still come to the point of accepting Him.
Accepting God involves our willingness to act on a belief. Remember what James said, faith without works is dead and that believing that God is one is not enough? When we come to the point of believing in God, the next step is to accept Him into our lives. For us, that comes through Jesus Christ. The acceptance of God in our lives involves our believing that He is good and has our interest at heart. When we believe this, it becomes easier and easier to follow and yield to Him because there is a trust factor that comes into play. God has proven Himself. When we accept God, we understand that He is able to bring sanity back into our lives but more importantly, He is willing. Let me give you this example. As a parent, we are often confronted with the requests of our children. No matter how old your kids are, they are requesting something from you (usually something financial). As they get older, the requests generally cost more money. There is a big difference between the request for McDonalds and the request for money to go shopping. When our children come to us with their requests, they come believing that we have the means to fulfill their request. What they do not know is if there is a desire on our part to fulfill their request. There is a difference between having the means to do something and having the desire. In accepting God into our lives, we accept the fact that He has the means to help us but we do not always accept the fact that He has the desire. When we accept that He has the desire, we will begin to understand and accept that we matter to Him.
II. Knowing That We Matter To God
I have heard people say that they believed that they were so bad and their sins so great that they had no expectations from God. Why would God listen to them or answer their prayer since they were not “good enough.” These statements were made by people who did not have a complete knowledge of God and His willingness to help them. More concerning is that I have also heard similar statements from people who have been in Church for years. How many of you know some Christian who believes that their sins are too great for God to forgive them? This belief actually comes from what we have learned based on how we deal with one another. You see, if someone offends us greatly, we come to the point of writing them off. Even when we say that we have forgiven them we know that down deep we are waiting for them to mess up again because they have not really changed. God does not operate like this and for us to believe that we really matter to Him; we must accept that His forgiveness is true. Paul made the following statement while quoting King David in Romans 4:4-8 which says “Now to the one who works, his wages is not reckoned as a favor but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.”
David understood what it meant to receive true forgiveness. The forgiveness that Paul and David are referencing is that forgiveness that is not earned – it is given by grace. You see, the reason we do not accept that God is willing to help us is the same reason we believe that our sins are not forgiven. Within us is the desire to “earn our way” out of someone’s debt so that we can say we overcame. Until we accept the fact that we cannot earn God’s forgiveness through our works, that He gives it by His grace, we will remain in a cycle of trying and failing. When forgiveness comes and we know it is real, we respond to the person as if the situation never happened and they do the same to us. We lose the guilt and the cloud that was hanging over our heads because of what we did. When the burden has been lifted, our hearts become open to receive the help we need. David said that the man whose sins God does not take into account is a blessed man. We are blessed! Do you understand the importance of what David said about God not taking something into account? Let me use this example.
How many of you have ever applied for a loan, whether it was to purchase a car or home? If you have, then you know that the first step involves you filling out an application. Once you complete the application, what is the next step? They begin to take into account your history as it pertains to how your have handled your business in the past. Based on what they determine about your credit worthiness, they may or may not approve of your loan. In the approval process, they look at your history to determine if you will do the same thing in your future, both the good and the bad. What David is saying is that God does not do this. When we go to God, God does not take into account our past sins that He has already forgiven. He does not keep a record of how many times we have come before Him with similar issues. He does not take account of how many times we have failed Him but how many times we have gotten up to try again. God is not like us. Where we take everything that we can into account when we are looking at people, God does not. God wants us to know that when we come to Him, He has the means and the desire to return us to sanity – we just need to accept Him and the fact that we matter to Him.
III. A Father’s Desire To Forgive
In thinking about what David said about God not taking into account our past sins, I am reminded of a story that Jesus told in Luke chapter 15. It is the story of a lost son. In the natural progression of addiction, our lives continue to degenerate out of control, spiraling downward faster than we can recover. In many ways we wake up feeling as if we are living like a wild animal, operating on instinct rather than rational thought. We could be living like animals in terms of our physical surroundings or in the burning passions that we often give in to that dehumanize us and others. This is the story that Jesus told, a story of a young man who after spending his inheritance found himself living worse than the pigs that he was feeding. Turn to Luke 15:11-20.
“And He said, ‘A certain man had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ And he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country and he began to be in need. And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, ‘Father I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.’ And he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”
Look at what took place. The son got to the point of recognizing that he could not continue to exist as he was living. He came to his senses and decided to go home, understanding that he was not worthy to be called his father’s son. He went home expecting to become one of his father’s servants. But this is a story about forgiveness. This is a story about how God does not take into account our sins. When the lost son gets closer to home, his fathers looks out and sees him coming. At this point, the father has two choices. He can wait for his son to get to him, make his son apologize for wasting his inheritance and allow him to become a servant or he could accept his son back. This father chose the latter. When he saw his son afar off, he did not wait for his son to get to him, he got up and ran to his son. In his action, he told his son that he had been forgiven and that he was still his son. Although the son asked to become a servant because he was not worthy to be called a son, his father did not allow it. To his father he was still a son. This father did not think on the fact that his son had wasted his inheritance. This father did not think on the fact that his son had been living large until he lost everything. This father’s only thought was that his son who was once lost had come to his senses and returned home.
Conclusion To Step 2
In step two we come to believe that God is greater than ourselves and could restore us to sanity. We accept that God exists and we believe that He has the means and the desire to help us. Although Satan would love for us to remain in bondage because or our sins, God wants to restore us. Satan wants us to think that we are too far gone for God to be able to restore us, don’t believe it. Satan wants you to think that your sins are too great and too many to be forgiven, don’t believe it. We cannot “work off” our sins to the point that we become good enough for God to accept. What we can do is walk away from our sinful past and allows God to do what He has promised to do, forget about our sins. When we believe that God has forgiven us and that He does not take into account our past when we come before Him, we have the freedom to come before Him with full expectations that our request will be heard and fulfilled. Satan wants us to stay in our addictions, but God wants us free. Satan wants us held in bondage, God is there to restore us and set us free. “If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” John 8:36
If you have admitted to yourself that you are powerless over your addictions and that you believe that God is able to restore you to sanity, then you are ready to move forward to step number three. May God bless and keep you as you walk towards newness in your “restored” life.
