Five Finger Recovery: Making a beginning in your recovery.

May 16, 2014: Five Finger Recovery: Making a beginning in your recovery. Please "Share" this new Precious Prodigal Post: http://bit.ly/1iSKADB

3 John 1:2 “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”

When I had a total knee replacement, I was surprised that I needed two weeks of home health care that included physical therapy. Actually, physical therapy was so important in my recovery that it began as soon as I could get out of bed at the hospital and then continued for several weeks. There were exercises to do every single day, and those exercises needed to become a priority if I wanted to have a full recovery.

What was true about my recovery from knee replacement surgery is also true about the others areas of my life that need recovery. I don’t know what your history is, but I haven’t yet met anyone who wasn’t carrying some pain from the past and/or from the present. We live in a fallen world, and life hurts, doesn’t it? It often causes wounds that need to heal, and sometimes those wounds can last a lifetime.

If substance abuse is part of the problem, the alcoholic or addict certainly needs to make his recovery a priority. But so do those of us who love that person. When substance abuse is present in a home, it doesn’t happen in a vacuum. The entire family gets sick, and that alone means we need recovery. In fact, that recovery is so important that it needs to be second only to God in our priorities.

So how do we make our recovery a priority? It might mean going Alanon or Celebrate Recovery and doing it regularly. It might mean reading the literature or getting and working with a sponsor. It might mean helping other people, who are just learning their alcoholic isn’t the only one who needs recovery. It might even include getting some professional counseling. It will certainly include reminding ourselves of the pain and desperation we had before we chose recovery.

People who are going to AA sometimes say, “It’s a selfish program.” They don’t mean it’s ok to be selfish…if you love a prodigal, you know he or she is already an expert at that. What they mean is they can’t let anything come before their recovery, and they’re right. But it isn’t only true about them. It’s also true about anyone who is in recovery.

You might ask yourself as soon as you have finished your time with God each day, “What do I need to do for my recovery today?” and then do it. Knowing our own recovery needs daily maintenance can be a little overwhelming, so I can identify with the apostle Paul when he asked God three times to remove his “thorn in the flesh.” And what Paul found is also true for us: “[God’s] grace is sufficient for thee…” (2 Cor 12:9)

You can do this. You really can. But it means giving God first place in your priorities and giving your recovery the very next. If God is your thumb, your recovery is that index finger. Having those two right will allow you to “prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers.” To ignore either of them will mean eventually losing everything that comes after.

Challenge for Today: Can you, just for today, choose to begin that journey of recovery? If you have already begun, can you choose to continue…just for today?