Let go and Let God

If have attended a ever reached out for support, you may have heard the phrase, “let go and let God.”  While that sounds simple, letting go can be a difficult process.  This is our journey on Day 8.

Letting Go

Holding on to past hurt and heartache will allow a seed of bitterness to grow inside.  Without forgiveness, this seed will grow roots that will choke your very soul.  Some hurts are very hard to even imagine forgiving.  Many turned to addictive substances due to physical or sexual trauma that has been deeply hidden by shame. 

My advice is that forgiveness is a process not a one time event.  If you start a process of forgiveness today, in time, your situation will be better off for doing so.  Remember, forgiveness doesn’t make the offender right but it can set the offended free.

Let God

Asking God to help you enter the process of forgiveness can be helpful.  He knows what you need before we even ask.  If you are working the 12 steps,  this can help you as you work your second step; restoration to sanity by the help of your Higher Power. 

Letting God be a part of your healing process opens a door to your recovery that you cannot do on your own.  Let go and let God.  Let Him help you today.

Dan Davis is a licensed professional counselor in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He is available for speaking and training of groups, schools, and businesses. Follow him on Twitter at @dand78

The devotional 45-days-Recovery-Old-Testament is available at :
http:// http://www.amazon.com/45-days-Recovery-Old-Testament/dp/1470046253

Heaven’s Wonder

Bread from the sky fell to feed the people of God when they were hungry and needed it badly.  Once they crossed over the Red Sea, the wilderness proved to be a hard place to travel.  On Day 7, we will see how these conditions are similar to finding our path in recovery.

God provides

When no food was available, God sent manna to feed His people.  There will be times when your Higher Power will provide for you in ways that will seem like Heaven has dropped blessings from the sky.  God’s provision may be tangible or spiritual.  Some of the best blessings from above are unseen;  an answered prayer, a song sang solitary, or thoughts of gratitude.  

God guides

The journey that God’s people would take would not be pleasant,  but it would lead to the Promised Land.   The path that you will take may not be easy.  God’s promises are ahead.  No matter what is before us, He will never leave or forsake His children.  Stay on that path no matter how difficult it may be.

Dan Davis is a licensed professional counselor in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He is available for speaking and training of groups, schools, and businesses. Follow him on Twitter at @dand78

The devotional 45-days-Recovery-Old-Testament is available at:
http:// http://www.amazon.com/45-days-Recovery-Old-Testament/dp/1470046253

Trust or Bust

Are you standing at the edge?  Full steam toward faith or fall back into the old ways of slavery.  This is what faced God’s people at the Red Sea on Day 6.

Follow Faith

When God’s people left Egypt with Moses, the Red Sea stood between their path to freedom or return to slavery.   Recovery is our freedom from slavery to addictive behaviors.  A part of a successful recovery program is accepting the trust in a Higher Power.  God’s people could not have survived without their faith, so also the person in recovery needs their faith.

Faith and Miracles

Part of the escape from Egypt involved crossing through the middle of the Red Sea on dry ground.  I can’t explain exactly how this happened other than to say God used faith to cause a miracle.  When you start to follow the steps you need to take, God can work miracles in your life as your faith begins to build over time.  It may not be as dramatic as the parting of the Red Sea, but when it happens,  you will know when your miracle has come.  At times, sobriety itself is a miracle! So do not wait, have faith in God today, do not delay!

Dan Davis is a licensed professional counselor in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He is available for speaking and training of groups, schools, and businesses. Follow him on Twitter at @dand78

The devotional 45-days-Recovery-Old-Testament is available at:
http:// http://www.amazon.com/45-days-Recovery-Old-Testament/dp/1470046253

Life change in the desert

In the Old Testament, Moses had a major life changing moment out in the desert.  Some may know of it as hearing from God through a burning bush that fire would not consume.  This is our study on Day 5.

In your path of recovery, you may not have had a spiritual vision that would shape the path of a nation, but if you live long enough, there are bound to be life changing moments.  Some may call it “hitting rock bottom.”  I have heard others call it “sick and tired of being sick and tired.”  Whatever you may have experienced, it’s important that we try not to compare one experience to that of another.  Each person has their own path to travel.  No experience in recovery will sound identical.

In my spiritual experience, the life change moments may not come right away.  If you are not sure about your concept of Higher Power, it may take some time to have a spiritual awakening.  It is okay to take your time with this area.  There is no need to rush. 

Do the right thing today and when you wake up tomorrow, do that.

Dan Davis is a licensed professional counselor in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He is available for speaking and training of groups, schools, and businesses. Follow him on Twitter at @dand78

The devotional 45-days-Recovery-Old-Testament is available at:
http://www.amazon.com/45-days-Recovery-Old-Testament/dp/1470046253

Down for the count

The winner of a wrestling match is usually decided by the opponents ability to hold the other wrestler down until the referee “counts him out.”  Have you felt that same way sometimes?  Not literally counted out by an official, but held down to the point of indecision when “wrestling” if you will, with the struggles that lie before you.

In the Old Testament,  Jacob literally wrestled with a Power greater than himself until he could get a blessing from above. Wrestling is our topic on Day 4. 

While you may not experience the exact situation that Jacob did, if you are working the 12 steps, you may be wrestling with accepting the concept of a Power greater than your self.  Even those outside of recovery may struggle with the whole God concept.  For all who wrestle, I have several suggestions:

1.  Look for God

If you actively make the decision to seek out that Higher Power,  you will be surprised how He will show up.  In so many ways and in so many days that you will want to come back to this post and comment about how it has effected you.

2.  Find a sponsor

Meet with a sponsor that has already worked through this in their recovery process.  Wisdom comes in many forms and regular sponsor contact is one of those forms.

3.  Go to a community of faith

We touched on this a little in our community post,  but I can’t say it enough,  find where you fit.  Some will return to the beliefs of their childhood,  but many will need to find a spiritual place all their own.

Allow yourself the time and space to find your next step. Don’t rush the Divine.

Dan Davis is a licensed professional counselor in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  He is available for speaking and training of groups, schools, and businesses.  Follow him on Twitter at @dand78

The devotional 45-days-Recovery-Old-Testament may be purchased at:
http:// http://www.amazon.com/45-days-Recovery-Old-Testament/dp/1470046253

Promises, Promises

Are you a promise keeper or a promise breaker?  Being human, most have had that creeping feeling of needing to break a promise at least once in a lifetime.  On Day 3 of 45 days of Recovery in the Old Testament, we see how God made promises to His people. 

How does this relate to the person working a program of recovery today?  It is relevant in many ways.  The same God of the Old Testament that promised to bless His people when they followed the right paths also wishes to bless us when we follow our path of recovery.  This is not a prosperity Gospel, but a comparison of how God wishes to give good things to His children.  With that noted, recovery is hard work.  Living a sober life might be the hardest undertaking you ever attempt.  Do not give up if it challenges you, instead,  turn to the community around you for support. 

I would like to end today with a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

God does not give us everything we want, but He does fulfill His promises, leading us along the best and straightest paths to Himself.
   

Dan Davis is a licensed professional counselor in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He is available for speaking and training of groups, schools, and businesses. Follow him on Twitter at @dand78

The devotional45-days-Recovery-Old-Testament may be purchased at:
http:// http://www.amazon.com/45-days-Recovery-Old-Testament/dp/1470046253

Community Immunity

Do you have “community immunity?”  Does such a concept exist?  Well I have to admit that I borrowed the term immunity from popular reality television.  It seems most of these shows have some type of item or challenge to complete in order to gain the temporary immunity from being voted off the program that week. 

In recovery, there is no immunity, but there is something similar: community.  Dr. Henry Cloud has said about the importance of community:

If you want to become healthy, you have to surround yourself with a group of people that are getting healthy, and you have to be connected to a community that is doing what you want to do.

I could not have said that better myself.  Whether you go to 12 step, Celebrate Recovery, Women for Sobriety or some other type of meeting for support, we need other people in our quest to live a sober life. 

Some recovering people return to their spiritual roots and attend church again for the first time in many years.  My advice about that is to try what fits for you now, not what might have worked for you in the past.  If you think about this like a restaurant, you might have really liked McDonald’s in your twenties. Now that you’re a little bit older than that, a different restaurant sounds better.  Well you didn’t give up on restaurants just because McDonald’s wasn’t right for you, so if you want to attend church, don’t give up on it because your first try might not go well.  Find the one that fits you. 

Most importantly, get the highest level of social support from all the sources that you can.  That will look different for everyone.  Just don’t try to go it alone.  We were created to be in community and to need each other.

Dan Davis is a licensed professional counselor in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He is available for speaking and training of groups, schools, and businesses. Follow him on Twitter at @dand78

The devotional 45-days-Recovery-Old-Testament may be purchased at:
http://www.amazon.com/45-days-Recovery-Old-Testament/dp/1470046253

Making ‘light’ choices

Making ‘light’ choices are shown the same as making right choices.  How you may ask? In both the Old and New Testament, we see symbolism of the God head compared to brightness i.e. Jesus as the Light of the World. On Day one, we study this topic. 

I challenge readers to consciously make one right choice a day.  This may seem odd to the readers of this blog.  You may think, Anyone with a conscience knows to do the right thing. That logic may work in the sober world, but for those in early recovery from addiction, morality has not been high on the list of things to do.  This does not make the person in recovery a bad person, it does mean that they need some assistance in re-learning how to think and live. 

So how about it? Ready to make a ‘light’ choice today?

Dan Davis is a licensed professional counselor in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He is available for speaking and training of groups, schools, and businesses. Follow him on Twitter at @dand78

The devotional 45-days-Recovery-Old-Testament may be purchased at:
http:// http://www.amazon.com/45-days-Recovery-Old-Testament/dp/1470046253

Why 45

When looking at the title of 45 Days of  Recovery in the Old Testament a common question I receive is why 45 days?

This period of time was chosen to give the reader a literary bridge.  I set a goal for myself that in this short period of time, the reader might be ready to transition into more traditional mainline reading.  Not every reader would accomplish this goal, just as not every reader who started would finish.  If you had wondered, that is how the timeline of 45 days was decided upon. 

Dan Davis is a licensed professional counselor in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He is available for speaking and training of groups, schools, and businesses. Follow him on Twitter at @dand78

The devotional 45-days-Recovery-Old-Testament may be purchased at:
http://www.amazon.com/45-days-Recovery-Old-Testament/dp/1470046253

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! 

Over the next weeks and months, I plan to write about  a devotional I wrote when I was working in Addiction Services in the foothills of Appalachia in Eastern Kentucky.  45 Days of Recovery in the Old Testament was born out the need for brief devotional reading for those who had experienced many life difficulties.  Poverty, prison, and parole were just a few of the issues for the day to day individuals I was working with.  Many were also at risk or had lost custody of their children.  How do you turn to a Higher Power with all of these obstacles at hand?  These are just a few of the issues I hope to address in this place.  If you are interested in my book,  it can be purchased at:

http://www.amazon.com/45-days-Recovery-Old-Testament/dp/1470046253

Dan Davis is a licensed professional counselor in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He is available for speaking and training of groups, schools, and businesses. Follow him on Twitter at @dand78