Galatians 6:2 – Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. (NKJV)
I have joined a gym recently. There are a few extra pounds that I need to get rid of. The gym has thirteen different machines on which to exercise. They are all in a circle. In between each of these machines is a recovery board. The goal is to work as hard as I can on the machines, and then "recover" on the boards by running on the spot or whatever I want — something to slow my heart rate a bit before going to the next machine.
I am also involved in Celebrating Recovery at our church. We all need recovery — some of us from co-dependency, some from drug abuse, some from generational things in our families. In the program at church, there is a class time of teaching and then a support group where we can share our victories and struggles from the past week. During recovery, there is a lot of hard work to do. We have to face denial and learn how to break that in our lives. In and of ourselves, we know we are powerless to change anything in our lives. It is only through Jesus Christ Who gives us strength and power that we can do these things. It is God Who changes our hearts. We have to do a personal moral inventory and later, make amends. It is all pretty rough stuff.
As I looked at this recovery process and the "recovery" boards at the gym, I saw a likeness to the two. At the gym, we work hard; we struggle with doing as many repetitions on a machine as possible in thirty seconds; we feel weak and faint at times on those machines. But then we go the recovery boards where we can relax somewhat and catch our breath. We need those "recovery" times to keep going.
So too in celebrating recovery. We work hard at breaking denial, we work hard at doing our inventory, we choose to forgive others, and that is hard work. And yet, we have the "recovery boards" as well. We each have our accountability partner on whom to lean. We have a sponsor to support us. We can be honest and real with them, and they still love us and accept us exactly as we are. We have the other people in our group to call at any time. I am sure we could never make it through this process without these "recovery boards" to rely on. Praise God for others who are there for us to help us in the recovery process.
Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (KJV)
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You that You show us the things in our lives from which we need to recover. Your Holy Spirit will tell us if only we ask. Help us to do the hard work of recovery. Thank You that You have put people in our lives for us to rely on as we go through this process. Amen.
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