Staying Clean and Sober in The Everyday World

Christian Glitter by www.christianglitter.com

I wanted to take a short break today to talk about the Serenity prayer and what it means to those of us who are in recovery.  We say it so often that we sometimes take it for granted and do not fully comprehend the deeper meaning.

It starts with God.  God has a different meaning for everyone.  Being a devoted Christian myself, I know the awesome power in calling to God.

“Grant me” is asking for a gift. This is an acknowledgment that we can not achieve these things on our own.  We are putting in a request to the One who can fulfill our desire when we have tried everything else.

Serenity is a peace of mind that surpasses all understanding.

Accept is to let go of our desire to control other people, places, and things.  This is an impossible task on our own.

Courage is one thing that is difficult for us to muster up at times therefore we must ask for it.  we are so set in the comfort of what we know that it requires real courage to make a change.  Stepping out of our comfort zone is a scarey proposition at best.  We become so familuar with things in our addiction that to make a change in our behavior means that we must venture into the unknown.  The unknown is frightening and requires courage to make that venture.

Wisdom  is another thing that we are not familuar with.  we think we are wise but wisdom is not measured my what we know but by what we do with what we know.  True wisdom comes from above and God gives freely to those who ask.

Knowing the difference between what we can and can not change is essential to our recovery.

As an addict we tend to lean toward our own understanding and therefore we must call upon God to  give us true understanding.  That is the true message behind the Serenity Prayer.

The next time you say it do so with a true desire for your request to be granted and watch the difference this makes in your life.

It dawned on me that many of my readers are the family of addicts as most addicts that are still lost in their addiction do not even have time for the internet much less access to it.  I had forgotten such an important thing until last nights post on “crack” caused me to remember my own days of addiction in a clearer light.  I guess by now you are wondering where this is going.  Truth is so am I.  All I can say is that God has a plan.  Well with that said let’s see what it is.

I’ve told you several times that we just can not control other people places and things.  The only thing we can control is our own reaction to them.  I must remind myself of this same thing many times a day.  Today was no exception.  I ran into a situation that was totally out of my control.  I did not know how to react even.  Because God is so good and wants to help me I turned it over to Him and asked Him how I was supposed to feel.  He gave me the answer.  If you want to know more about all of that go here .  My point in bringing this up is to let you know that God cares.  He is the reason the 12 Steps work.  Without Him there would not even be  a 12 Step program.  Most people who are lost in addiction do not know God or what He is capable of and they definitely do not want to be preached at.  That is why the 12 Steps work so well for us.  No one is shoving an all knowing God down our throats.  Yes, we are encouraged to trust God and He is the center of the program but as such His attraction to others is the love they receive from those who have been where they are and have achieved a measure of sobriety through the program and through the God of their understanding.  Christians who have family members that are lost in addiction often try to approach them in the wrong way.  I urge each Christian to practice this one thing only: “Let go And Let God”.