Does fear impact our Recovery? I believe fear is the greatest obstacle to moving toward healing. The opposite of fear is faith.
Fear is appropriate when a bear threatens to attack us in the forest. On the other hand, fear in our Recovery jeopardizes our ability to embrace a healthy lifestyle. We may be unable to let go of unhealthy behaviors because they help us cope with our sadness, anxiety, irritability, anger, and other feelings. We cannot give fear over to our Higher Power because we want to control a situation.
Five years ago I entered a deep depression and experienced a significant amount of anxiety. Prior to then, I thought I practiced giving my sadness and anxiety over to God. I learned that fear was getting in the way of having faith to allow God to help me with my spiritual woundedness. I remember saying to a friend, “When will this pain end?” He said, “It will be in God’s time, not yours.”
During this period of my life, I tried really hard to keep my mind and heart open to the Holy Spirit. Eventually, my depression and anxiety became manageable. I was no longer in a spiritual warfare with God. I try very hard to remain in the present moment and have faith that God will show me the way. Spiritual healing is a piece of Recovery (the most important in my mind) but it does not replace therapy, psychiatry, support groups, etc. Faith is working on our recovery program even when some of the activities don’t seem relevant. Faith is practicing humility, patience, and giving up control. A relationship with a Higher Power enhances all the other supports we have in our lives.
Reflection:
“Faith is about listening, watching or reading. These activities will communicate a message to us on how to take a step forward in our recovery and believe we will experience the miracle of recovery”. Larry Winter
Peace
Larry
email: ljw@superhumanbeing.net
website: https://superhumanbeing.net/