It's Independence Day in the United States, the day we celebrate our freedom as a nation. Today, I can also celebrate the spiritual freedom I have because I am in recovery. Recovery has encouraged me to find a personal understanding of God and His love for me. Because I now think of God in terms that I can begin to understand, I am now able to turn my life over to His care.

My understanding of God grows and evolves. Because my finite understanding of an infinite God must always be incomplete, it is never the same as anyone else's. But that's OK. God loves us both.

I now have a sense of a unique purpose in life, one that God has planned just for me. I am the only one who can live it, and I cannot properly live anyone else's. Grounded in faith, I can hold tight to the course God has set before me and face my future with confidence.

—Anonymous

Tags: Faith, God's Care

Save me, O God,
For the waters have threatened my life.
I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me.

I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched;
My eyes fail while I wait for my God.
...
O God, it is You who knows my folly,
And my wrongs are not hidden from You.

—Psalm 69 (NAS95)

Tags: God's Care

Although these words were written by alcoholics, they apply to all of us in need of recovery:

If you have decided that you want what we have and are ready to go to any length to get it—then you are ready to take certain steps.

At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all of the earnestness at our command, we beg you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely.

Remember that we deal with alcohol—cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power—that One is God. May you find Him now!

Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at a turning point. We asked for His protection and care with complete abandon.

—AA's Big Book

Tags: God's Care

If you think you are an atheist, an agnostic, a skeptic, or have any other form of intellectual pride which keeps you from accepting [recovery], I feel sorry for you. If you still think you are strong enough to beat the game alone, that is your affair. But if you really and truly want to quit ... and sincerely feel that you must have some help, we know that we have the answer for you. It never fails, if you go about it with one half the zeal you have been in the habit of showing ...

Your Heavenly Father will never let you down!

—Dr. Bob

Tags: God's Care

There's a sentence in AA's Big Book that talks about one of the changes we experience in recovery. "We suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves."

When we enter recovery, we begin living more closely attuned to the Spirit. As we progress, we grow in understanding and effectiveness. This doesn't happen overnight; recovery is a lifetime process. We must continue to watch for the old selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear, and when these pop up, we must ask God to remove them quickly from us.

—Anonymous

Tags: God's Care

I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad.

O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed.

This poor soul cried, and was heard by the LORD, and was saved from every trouble.
The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.

—Psalm 34 (NRSV)

Tags: God's Care

I know that I am powerless to deal with my problem by myself. The more I struggle to force solutions, the more difficult my situation becomes. Yet, I know that God can deal with matters that are beyond me—I will empty my mind of fear and rely on Him.

As St. Francis de Sales said, "God does not deprive us of His love; we deprive Him of our cooperation. God would never reject me if I had not first rejected His love."

—Anonymous

Tags: God's Care

The best known of all English-language gospel songs has a simple but important message that we should remember—

Jesus loves me! this I know,
For the Bible tells me so;
Little ones to Him belong,
They are weak, but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.

—Anna Warner

Tags: God's Care

In a sense, everything that happens to me is a gift from God. I may resent disappointments and rebel against unfavorable consequences, even when they are the natural result of my own poor choices. However, I've come to understand these consequences as one of God's ways of teaching me.

There's an old saying that points out that wisdom comes from experience, experience comes from problem solving, problems to solve are the result of mistakes, and mistakes come from our foolishness—so one source of wisdom is foolishness. This can be true, but only if I let God use my suffering for my benefit. The alternative is to continue to rebel. Of course, rebellion will only pile frustration on top of another. The better course is to let go and let God take a hand in my affairs.

We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.

—Anonymous

Tags: God's Care