Recovery Devotional 286 Cycle of Recovery

JMD Devotional 286 1 Kings 8:46-51 Cycle of Recovery

If they sin against You--for there is no man who does not sin--and You are angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the enemy's land, far or near;

Yet if they think and consider in the land where they were carried captive, and repent and make supplication to You there, saying, We have sinned and have done perversely and wickedly;

If they repent and turn to You with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to You toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your Name;

Then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven, Your dwelling place, and defend their cause and maintain their right. And forgive Your people, who have sinned against You, and all their transgressions against You, and grant them compassion before those who took them captive, that they may have pity and be merciful to them; For they are Your people and Your heritage, which You brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace.

The cycle of recovery begins with suffering and affliction. We moved away from God; we acted out and deserted God’s Garden for the wastelands of the earth. A well-kept garden requires principled living, rules, discipline and careful maintenance; patient toil yields a bountiful harvest but not instant gratification. Egypt represents the world, the ‘big city’ the ‘Las Vegas’ of indulgent idolatry. To some degree, we have all been prodigal, AWOL, rebels. A person stands on their own air hose and curses God for suffocation. Our own sins find us out; the resulting trials (hopefully) get our attention, and force us to review our steps. One falls short of repentance if they just get angry at God for being such a good cop. True repentance involves taking ownership of our own sins, grieving over them, and changing the mindset that took us there in the first place. We were helpless in the iron furnace; all we could do is ‘let go and let God’ help us in our depravity. He takes us through the bitter withdrawal of our addiction to sin; restoring a taste for life again. The restoration of sanity begins with the recognition of our identity; that we belong to God, that we are His children, privileged souls. Being able to thank God for the hard, rocky road of recovery is a sure sign of being on it. Small and large slips plunge us back into the cycle as surely as any other cause and effect relationship is governed by absolute principle; knowing who and what we are and who we depend on gets us back on track.

Dear God,

I have said enough. Thank You for having mercy on this life, and for pulling me out of despair.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

*New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

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