The Program: The Journey of Recovery

nyone who has been through an addiction recovery program can tell you what a difficult and often painful experience it can be.  The "no pain, no gain" motto is as important in this senario as it is in the others which is it is usually associated.  The journey to recovery may seem simple but it is never easy.   The very thought of quitting an addiction, growing up, facing fears, addressing feelings and accepting responsibility for our actions that have hurt people over the years can be horrifying.

Many of us have struggled with our faith in God and we couldn't conceive how He could fit into our recovery; after all, didn't He completely ignore us when we cried our for Him to rescue us from our misery - while we hugged a toilet?  Although some of us were raised in Christian homes, we had slid away from any reliance on God.  Church became something that morally weak people did on Sundays.  Many of us didn't realize that addiction had completely taken over our lives and turned us into the type of people even we wouldn't want to be friends with.  Drugs and/or alcohol had become our "god" and we recklessly treated our bodies like an amusement park ride.  Many of us stole from those who loved us and we lied continually to cover-up our problems - and blamed everyone else for our failings.  We told people whatever we had to if it helped us to feed our addictions.  We burned bridges with friends, family and employers; we didn't care about anyone but ourselves.  Our all-consuming neediness made us  terminally self-centered and selfish in every situation and everyone around us suffered as a result.  In the end, we felt alone, helpless, hopeless and although we didn't want to live anymore, we didn't want to die either.  We had absolutely no faith in anything or anyone, including ourselves.

As with most addicts, everyone around us knew we had a problem long before we did.  Our problems seemed so big and as much as we tried, we couldn't fix our ourselves - although we thought ourselves experts in fixing other people's problems.  Many of us had no where to go by the time we entered recovery.  Who would want us?  We couldn't trust ourselves so how could anyone else trust us?  We certainly didn't love ourselves so the thought of anyone, including God, actually being able to love us seemed ridiculous and unachievable.  We felt undeserving of it - and we lived like it.

“… as God has dealt to each one a MEASURE OF FAITH …” (Romans 12:3)

As the recovery process began, we found that faith in a loving God could help us solve our problems.  We no longer had to do everything by ourselves.  Through our belief in Jesus Christ, we were re-born into a new way of life where we could handle people, places, things and situations that used to baffle us.  We were no longer slaves to the addictions that were smarter, stronger and more patient than we could ever be on our own. 

In our on-going recovery, as imperfect as many days have been, we were able to live a life worth being proud of, and many of us, over time, regained the trust of our friends, family and others.  As we read our bibles daily and gained an understanding of God, we used prayer and meditation to get to know Him and to grow in relationship with Him, giving us a peace of mind and body ("...the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding..." Philippians 4:7a) which is continually much better than any drug or drink!.  We were freely given the tools we needed to live life on lif'e's terms and we learned to love ourselves - and we could truly love others.  We no longer struggled with the hurts, hang-ups and habits that were destroying us.  The passage from Isaiah that is attatched to our logo became more than just a quotation.  We were truly free.

Do you want to recover from active addiction?  Do you want to be happy?  Do you want to be trusted?  Do you want to be loved and be able to love in return?  Jesus is the ultimate example of loving and He loves everyone equally.  As unattainable as these goals may have seemed for us lowly addicts, by relying on Him to guide us, strengthen us,  teach us, and if needed, carry us until we could walk on our own two feet, we found that anything is possible with God - and if you want it bad enough.  He has always been there for us and He's never let us down.  We learned our prayers were always answered but the answers weren't always what we wanted.  However, they were always what we needed - and sometimes the answers were simply "yes", "no". and sometimes, "wait".  Faith, it seemed, opened the door to a loving Solution that brought all of us back from the brink of our own personal destruction.  Fortunately, we only have one day to be concerned about and that day is today.  We don't have to worry about yesterday because it's already gone, or tomorrow because it isn't here yet.

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17)

Wings as Eagles Ministry has helped many men recover and is always there to help you or someone you care about to declare complete victory over all addictions and afflictions - and have a life that is truly worth living!  But don't take our word for it; jump in with both feet and find out for yourself.