Five Finger Recovery Where is your hope?

May 14, 2014: Five Finger Recovery Where is your hope? Please "Share" this new post from Precious Prodigal: http://bit.ly/1hMaqK0

Psalm 20:7 “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”

Those of us who love a prodigal have a rocky path to walk, but we’re not the only ones. Life shows up for all of us, and bad things…sometimes even terrible things…happen. No wonder the book of Job says, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.” (Job 14:1) It’s not a question of whether heartaches are going to come. They are. The question is, “How will I react or respond when they do?”

The answer depends on where I put my hope. In one of David’s beautiful, poignant psalms, he asks, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?” and he encourages himself by adding, “Hope thou in God.” (Ps 42:11) I have to tell you my first response when trouble comes is not to trust in God. I’m more likely to see what I can do to fix it.

When that fails (as it usually does), I then begin to look outside myself for help. Unfortunately, I’m more likely to seek out other people, counselors, a pastor, a support group, a book, or the Internet than to go to the Lord for my solution. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with any of those people or things, I have to wonder why going to my God isn’t first on the list.

In Jeremiah 17:5, God warns us we are not to trust in men or in the “arm of strength.” That same verse goes even further by suggesting that when we do, our heart has “departed from the Lord.” I’m not saying we shouldn’t seek counsel. When things are overwhelming to us, there’s nothing wrong with sharing that pain with people we trust. What I am saying is that we can’t leave God out of the equation and expect things will turn out well.

It could be that people in recovery from substance abuse have an advantage over the people who are not. They often say, “God did for me what I could not do for myself,” and they’re right. They also know that they have a daily reprieve from their addiction based on their spirituality. To stop depending on God, for them, is to relapse. And for many of them, to relapse is to die. They don’t have any choice but to rely on God. Can we do less?

Maybe you’ve prayed for years without receiving the answer you’re seeking. You might be thinking praying hasn’t done any good or that God hasn’t given you what you need. But of course He has. He always has and always will give us what we need. However, He doesn’t always give us what we want. You see, God is much more interested in our character than He is in our comfort.

I don’t claim to understand what God is trying to do in my life or in the life of my prodigal. How could I? God says of Himself that His thoughts are not my thoughts and His ways are not my ways. (Isa 55:8) But I do know His plan isn’t to harm me but to prosper me…to give me hope and a future. (Jer 29:11) And if I don’t seek His face and trust Him in the bad times, I can’t very well say I’m putting Him first.

Challenge for Today: Can you, just for today, trust that God knows what He is doing in your life and in the life of your prodigal?