Twelve Steps To Recovery Part 7
Scripture: 1 John 1:9; Jeremiah 18:1-6; Luke 18:10-14; 1 John 5:11-15
Introduction
To date in this series we have discussed the first six steps in the twelve step process. We began by admitting that we were powerless over our dependencies and that there was a God greater than ourselves who could restore us to sanity. After reaching that point, in step three we made the decision to turn our lives over to the care of God, a conscious choice that was made freely. In steps four and five we took a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves and came to the point of understanding our addictions and confessing them to ourselves, God and to another trusted individual. In step six, after recognizing our addictions for what they were, we came to the point where we were ready to have God remove all of the defects from our character. This is a voluntary decision to submit to every change God wants to make in our lives as we humbly ask Him to remove our character defects. Having come to the point of being ready to have our defects removed, we are ready for step number seven, asking God to remove them.
The Scriptures tell us in 1 John 1:9 that “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Focus on the one word “if”. The word if sets up a condition for something to take place. It defines what needs to happen first in order for the next thing to happen. For example, you may have heard someone say, “I will do this if you will do that.” The “if” denotes what condition must be met in order for something to be done. In the verse we read from 1 John 1:9, the “if” denotes that to receive forgiveness for our sins; to be cleansed from all unrighteousness; we must confess our sins before God. God goes into action when we come before Him. We therefore cannot receive forgiveness without there first being some confessing. In step 6 we were ready to have God remove our defects and in step seven we come to Him and humbly ask Him to do it.
I. Giving Up the Control
Step seven begins when we humbly ask God to remove our shortcomings. This step represents a turning point in the recovery process. The first six steps focused on the inner work that has to be done and step seven acts as a bridge between the first six steps and the final steps which are focused on our outer work that must be done. To cross this bridge successfully, we have to release our control and allow God to do what He needs to do. Although we may ask God to remove our shortcomings, it is natural to want to tell God “how to do it” and what is the best way that works for us. Well if we knew that much we would have already dealt with our addictions. The fact that we need God to fix us should tell us that our methods do not quite get it done.
So let’s talk a little about releasing the control. Have you ever asked someone to do something for you and then proceeded to tell them how to do it? I have done that several times. I remember once asking Nikki to make me a German chocolate cake. While she was making it, I thought she needed more icing and proceeded to tell her. I will not discuss her response, but I learned quickly that if you ask someone to do something for you, something you cannot do for yourself, you cannot expect to control how they do it. We do this often when we are riding with someone and they are taking us somewhere we have driven before. We actually expect them to go in the same direction that we would go. If they go a different route, we begin to question them about why they were doing it as if the way we would go is the only way. Although someone else is driving, we still want to hold on to the control as to how we get to the place and often make comments about how our way is better or faster.
We do the same thing with God. We are so used to calling the shots that we’ll ask for God’s help and “accept it” as long as He does it on our terms. In other words, He must run His plan by us to gain our approval before we are comfortable enough to follow Him. In our thinking we want to see what God has planned and offer any changes that we may want, especially as it pertains to the timetable in which something is done. If you have not already figured this out, God does not operate like this. This is why our humility plays such an important role in this step. Consider the lesson that God taught Jeremiah in Jeremiah18:1-6: “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, ‘Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I shall announce My words to you.’ Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?’ declares the Lord. ‘Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.”
In these verses God explains to Jeremiah, visually, His relationship to Israel (and to us). He demonstrated that He was the potter and we are the clay. He has the authority to make decisions concerning us just as the potter does over his clay vessels. And, we do not have the authority to question Him about it as if He can only do what we want His to. Yes we can refuse to allow God to work in our lives and actually rebel against Him, but the outcome will not be great. Some believe that we can never question God about anything because He is God, but I do not subscribe to that theology. I believe that we can ask God questions, even when we are frustrated, for God understands. However, I do not believe that we can just come to Him in any way that we want. He is our maker so there is a level of respect that we must always maintain. But in our intimate relationship with Him, He understands us and our need for answers. But back to my point about how we approach God, in step seven we must come with humility. God told Jeremiah that He was the potter and Israel was the clay. But pay close attention to what Jeremiah saw when he went to the potter. Verse 4 says “But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel as it pleased the potter to make.” The vessel that the potter was making had some imperfections in it so the potter decided to start all over. God made us, but yet through life, we become imperfect. Our addictions spoil us and God is ready to start all over with us. He is ready to make a new vessel out of us, but we must come to Him in humility recognizing that He can do with us as it pleases Him. When we ask God to change us, to remove our shortcomings, we cannot dictate to Him how He does it. Isaiah 45:9 says “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker, an earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth. Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands?” Isaiah offers this warning to those who will want to go down the road to argue with God about what His plans are for changing them, for removing their shortcomings.
When we put our life in God’s hands, He will reshape us as He sees fit. It is our humility that allows us to accept the fact that He is the Creator. Our new life may be similar to the ones we left behind or entirely different. God is the master craftsman. Whatever He does, we can trust that He will recreate our life beautifully, once we get out of the way. Do not waste your time trying to figure out what He will make of you; just know that when He is finished, you will be a new vessel. Sometimes depending on what we bring to God, it is so bad that we can’t help but have a humble heart, even to the point of feeling unworthy. But there are also times when we believe our “shortcomings” are not that bad so we come before God still walking in pride. It is our humility that moves God.
II. A True Heart of Humility
After we have examined ourselves closely, we may feel cut off from God; or unworthy to even enter into His presence. Maybe our sinful behaviors are the worst imaginable and even though we are genuinely remorseful, we are hesitant about approaching God. This was the situation of the man in this story that Jesus told. Luke 18:10-14 records the following: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people; swindlers, unjust, adulterers or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted.”
The Pharisee, in all of his righteousness, stood before God giving thanks that he was not like all of the other sinners. He was proud that he was able to stay away from some of the sins that others were giving in to. Of course he did not consider his pride a sin. As he was thanking God, he had the audacity to look at the tax-gatherer and thank God that he was not like him. (Tax collectors were among the most despised citizens in Jewish society. Pharisees on the other hand, commanded the highest respect.) How many times have we acted in the role of the Pharisee? How many times have we looked at someone coming to God in their humility and doing the same thing as the Pharisee? How many times have we judged another’s sin and was thankful that we were not like them? How many times have we looked at someone and wondered why they were even coming to the altar “again” since they continue to make bad choices over and over again? This is the mindset of the Pharisee, but not God.
As Jesus told the story, He stated that it was not the Pharisee who walked away justified, it was the tax-gatherer. It was not the man who stood there recounting all of the things he does right, but the man who was so ashamed that he could not raise his head towards heaven. The one who walked away justified was the one who stood before God, recognized his sins and asked for mercy. He did not think he deserved it, but he wanted it. Contrary to the Pharisee who thought he did not need mercy because he was living a righteous life, the tax-gatherer knew that it was only God’s mercy that could save him. God welcomes us even when we feel like we have no rights whatsoever to enter into His presence. God honors our humility. For those who exalt themselves, they will be humbled and those who are humble will be exalted.
III. Through The Eyes of Love
In the story we just discussed, Jesus said that the sinner walked away justified. In other words, he was declared innocent of his sins because he came before God in his humility. When we come before Him to humbly ask Him to remove our shortcomings, God looks at us, not with contempt, but through the eyes of genuine love. Even though we have been trained to not get those things that we ask for, when God looks at us through those eyes of love, He is waiting to do just that, give us what we ask for. I am not saying if you ask for a million dollars He will give it to you; but I am saying that when you ask Him to remove your shortcomings, He will do it because He desires for all of us to be whole. Consider what John says in 1 John 5:11-15. “And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”
John tells us that God has given us life through Christ Jesus. Having life in Christ opens the door for us to come to God knowing that He hears us. John says that this should be our confidence, that when we pray according to God’s will, He hears us, no question about it. How many times have you called a friend because you needed to talk and they were not at home or the line was busy? How many times have you made requests of friends only to find out they could not do it? God is not like our friends. He has made provisions for us so that when we come before Him, we know that He is listening and He is ready to act on our behalf. This is not due to anything that we have earned from Him, but due to our acceptance of Him and His Son. Our becoming holy, as God removes our shortcomings, is God’s will for each of us. So if this is God’s will, we know without a doubt that when we come to Him, He will hear and answer our prayer. It is clearly God’s will to have our sinful shortcomings removed. And since this is His will and since He has promised to do whatever we ask according to His will, we do not have to wonder about His answer when we come to Him. Therefore, we can have full confidence that God will remove our shortcomings in His time and according to the requests that we place before Him.
Conclusion
We have come to the point where we have examined those things that are within us. We have pulled back to layers to reveal the inner core of our beings, exposing those things that we have buried deeply within us. We have recognized that we cannot fix ourselves and only God can. In step seven we humbly come before Him and make our request known and our God is listening. Not only is He listening, but He is ready to answer. We must not live like the Pharisee, downplaying our sinful shortcomings in comparison to someone else. We cannot think we are so righteous that we can stand before God and obligate Him to move on our behalf because of our righteousness. No, we must come before Him in humility, recognizing that our best efforts still fall short of God’s expectations for us. When we fully understand how weak and sinful we are individually and how strong and righteous God is, we can come before Him as filthy rags and leave as clean as newly purchased cloths. As we cross this bridge, it is time to focus on our outward actions, addressing those we have hurt.
May God bless and keep you.
