2 Peter 1:vs-2&4; “May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.(2) And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s coruption caused by human desires.(4)” (NLT)
Every morning I go to my study to do my prayer and devotion. This is something I started when I got sober and I’ve found this practice lends greatly to my ability to stay sober while growing closer to God one day at a time. It is also a great escape from the “world’s corruption” and in turn helps me surrender my “human desires” to God first thing out of the gates everyday. (I love reading Peter’s scripture verses because he speaks in terms I can relate to.)
Over the past several weeks during my devotional time, I have been joined by a beautiful red cardinal. From sunrise to sunset my bird friend tries to fly into my study via the windows. He sits on a perch outside the window, flies into the glass pane, then I hear a “thud”, he drops to the ground, looks dazed and confused but always flies back to the perch in preparation for his next mission. He does this all day long.
This bird is so symbolic of what many of us do with our lives especially those who are battling any type of addiction or brokenness. We keep doing things the same way expecting different results and the results never change. I believe the definition of this behavior is insanity. A bird, with it’s birdbrain, has an excuse for acting this way but as human beings we have no excuse.
I know people who are miserable at this very moment because they are trying to control something they have absolutely no control over and most of the time what they are trying to control is either an addiction or another human being. Those suffering from addictions will either die or end up bankrupt in all aspects of their lives if they don’t admit powerlessness or lack of control over their addiction. Co-dependents of addicts and alcoholics are the greatest at trying over and over to control something that is uncontrollable, (i.e. the addict/alcoholic). They keep flying into that “window” over and over and over.
One of the best pieces of advice I received when I was in early recovery and working the first step was to not only say to myself that I was powerless over alcohol and drugs, but that I was powerless over other people, places and things and more importantly…I WAS NOT GOD. I was also told to turn the things I was in turmoil about over to God on a daily or more frequent basis because HE WAS GOD. I can’t, God can, I think I will let him, is a saying I’ve used quite often during my recovery.
Over the years, my morning prayer and devotional time has allowed me to draw closer to God and farther away from things I have no control over. I’ve witnessed my former “birdbrain” transformed into a brain that allows me to discern quite rapidly what I can control (me and my thoughts, words and deeds) and what I cannot control (other people places and things).
Where are you today? Are you trying to control things that are out of your control? If so, try spending more time with God and Godly people and less time with the people places and things in your head and you will slowly begin experiencing a grace and peace like never before. “May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. (2 Peter 1:2 NLT)
It wasn’t too long ago where I would have let this beautiful bird with his little birdbrain drive me nuts, but instead I’ve chosen to make this cardinal my friend as he serves as a reminder of what I used to be like and can still be today if I don’t continue to do the things I need to do and in turn control what I can control and leave the rest to God.
P.E.A.C.E.
Thank you for setting this out, you have helped a lot of us struggling with the like trouble. The route to temperance is not an open one to take. But with a big dose of commitment, help from a total treatment and a lot of sustenance from a loved one, the course away from alcohol dependence becomes smoother the farther you go on.