Page 58 – Chapter 5 The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous
Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened and what we are like now. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any lengths to get it you are ready to take certain steps. At some of these we balked. We tought we could find an easier softer way but we could not. Remember we deal with alcohol, cunning, baffling and powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power – that One is God. May you find Him now.
How far are you willing to go to achieve and maintain your recovery from addiction and compulsion? Have you tried and failed in the past? Do you get so far, seem to be going well and then relapse? Thinking you were going well as you became complacent, stopped attending meetings, implementing what you have learned?
Tonight, I want us to take an honest look at our willingness to go to any lengths. What are we doing to discover God’s will for our lives and seeking His power to carry it out?
I. TRUST GOD IN EVERYTHING
Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God! Proverbs 3:5-7
II. THE ENERGY YOU ARE EXPERIENCING IS GOD’S ENERGY That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure. Philippians 2:13
III. PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING
Stay alert; be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there’s another part that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.” Matthew 26:41
IV. KEEP MOVING FORWARD
Your heart’s been in the right place all along. You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. 2Corinthians 8:11
V. WORK AT IT Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won’t be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple. 2 Timothy 2:15
VI. RECOVERY REQUIRES CHANGES
Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32
VII. THERE IS A PURPOSE TO RECOVERY
We neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing. Ephesians 2:10
DISCUSSION STARTER
2 Corinthians 10:3 I do live in the world. But I don’t fight my battles the way the people of the world do.
Recovery causes conflict. You will find that because of what you are learning in recovery you no longer think like other people. You no longer act like other people. For some of those people that is going create conflict.
In Luke 12:51 Jesus says “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you. I have come to separate people.”
There is no middle ground in recovery. You are either in or you are out. It requires commitment. Even when conflict arises. Conflict for me in the process of recovery meant moving away from everyone and everything I knew and loved. It added a new dimension to the phrase. If you love it set it free.
ARE YOU WILLING TO GO TO ANY LENGTHS TO OBTAIN AND MAINTAIN RECOVERY
sharing my experience, strength and hope. 