Recovery is Not Just About Recovery

As a follower of Christ, I believe that Christianity is not just "going to Heaven when you die." If that were the case, then when I got "saved" and got my "ticket" or "fire insurance," then it is about hanging on until I die. That could be 70 or more years! Surely there's more to following Christ than that! Of course it is.

Heaven is not just about Heaven. If we see Heaven as a nice paradise, with streets of gold and no more suffering, then we minimize it. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to be there. It's going to be amazing! But the one thing about Heaven that makes it Heaven is Jesus. If we aren't going to Heaven for Him, then we've missed the boat.

Jesus is the purpose of Christianity and Heaven. He didn't humble Himself to be a man, live the perfect, sinless life on Earth, suffer immensely, die, get buried, and raise to life again just so we could go to Heaven. Heaven is the "gravy on the biscuit." He did all that to redeem us, restore us, and take us to His Father's feet to be loved, transformed, and given new life - now and forevermore.

He saved us "from" death (sin) and into life (His life). He came to not only show us the Way, but is the Way. He did everything we needed and couldn't do on our own to be with Him - in an unhindered, fully free relationship. Heaven is the final destination where we get to be with Him, forever. We will finally get to see Him face to face and worship Him as He truly is. Yea baby!

Jesus told His disciples before He left that He was leaving to prepare a place for them (Heaven), but the key point to me is the last part of verse 3. 

John 14:1-3 (NIV) - Jesus Comforts His Disciples

14 Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God^[a]; believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

They key statement Jesus said is, "...that you may also be where I am." He was going to prepare a place for us so that we could be with Him. If Jesus isn't there, then Heaven isn't quite the same. Do we love Him more than Heaven? Did we become a Christian "just to avoid Hell," or was it out of love for Jesus? That's a question worth pondering. The one thing I know for sure is that He will never leave us or forsake us. That's a promise.

How does all this relate to recovery? Well, recovery isn't just about recovery either. It's about a relationship. One, with Jesus. Two, with Amy and family. And, with others. If I had tried to do my recovery "to keep Amy happy" or "to avoid conflict" or "to do the right thing," then that's not terrible but in many ways it would have been the wrong approach. As I stated in an earlier post, true repentance (or not) will become evident over time. If I had been doing recovery for the wrong reasons, then it would have become evident. Anyone can "fake it" for a season.

For me, falling on my face in shame and sin started my healing process. I had to throw in the towel and let God start doing His work in me. I never once wanted to be without my family, though I didn't know if they would stay or not. However, I didn't want to do my recovery just to get them to stay. It was deeper than that.

In my opinion, recovery is about daily surrendering my will to God's. It is about tasting to see that the Lord is good and believing that nothing in this world can compare to Him. It is about letting Him "slay me," sift me, clean me up, transform me, and fill me with His life, love, and Holy Spirit. It is about a love relationship with Jesus that surpasses all things. As a result, I am then able to better love myself, my children, my wife and do my recovery well, and as they deserve and need.

I hope this is making sense. I believe that my recovery is a life-long process of healing. I want God to heal me fully. Over the past two years, there have been some very rough days, personally, spiritually, relationally and emotionally. Did that mean my recovery wasn't going well? Not necessarily. In many ways, it was the result of my recovery; letting God cut away the junk.

God can and will hopefully continue to do something good with our situation. It's etched in our story, and we want Him to continue to be honored and be the hero. We don't know what all is to come, but our daily pursuit is Him. I know I can't do recovery apart from Christ. I know what level of sin I am capable of committing. I also know that adultery is NEVER worth it.

To conclude, I am not a Christian "just so I can go to Heaven." I am looking forward to Heaven, but mostly because Jesus is there. I also am not doing recovery "just to do the right thing." I want full restoration and healing, from the inside-out. I want to walk in the freedom that Christ sacrificed to provide for me. I don't want to spit in His face any longer by choosing sin over Him. I want to become the man that He intended for me to be.

Hebrews 7:23-25 (NIV)

²³ Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; ²⁴ but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. ²⁵ Therefore he is able to save completely^[c] those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.