"What is recovery and why might I need it?" - #chooserecovery, #hardjourney, #RitaMoritz

“…the journey is too much for you.” 1 Kings 19:7

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we lived in a perfect world with perfect parents, happy childhoods, full bank accounts, good health, and ideal marriages? You may remember the days when family programs like “Father Knows Best” or “Leave it to Beaver” presented a problem in the first five minutes of the show, but Mom and Dad managed to resolve it and bring it to the perfect conclusion in 30 minutes. Of course, that isn’t the reality, is it?

We live in a broken world, and if that world didn’t beat you up when you were a child, it nails you when you’re an adult. And if it hasn’t yet, it will because pain and sorrow come to all of us in one way or another. Job said it well in Job 14:1, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.” That “trouble” might be childhood trauma, a broken marriage, a prodigal child, the loss of a job or career, a chronic or terminal illness or the death of someone we love.

God says over and over again, “Go and I am with you…,” and I could list scores of times when God told His people to go and do something and He would be with them. Example: In Joshua 1, God told Joshua to go into the Promised Land. He told Joshua not to be afraid because God was going to be with him. Again and again, God made that promise to His children.

But what about those other times, when you’re in the wilderness like Elijah was in 1 Kings 19? When the trouble is so overwhelming, you don’t what to do? When it really IS a tragedy?

• And it IS a tragedy if you were abused, unloved, or abandoned as a child.
• It IS a tragedy when your marriage dies.
• It IS a tragedy when you get that terrible diagnosis.
• It IS a tragedy when you’re trapped in an addiction or love someone who is.
• It IS a tragedy when people you love have broken your heart.
• It IS a tragedy when you have a prodigal child.
• It IS a tragedy when someone you love dies.  

At times like those, I don’t need trite sayings like, “Our disappointments are God’s appointments” or even “God’s going to use this for your good and His glory.” Both those things may be true, but when tragedy strikes, those words aren’t helpful.

Troubles are going to come, and there will be times when, like Elijah, the “journey is too much for us.” When we’re wounded and damaged and weary physically, emotionally and even spiritually, it isn’t platitudes we need. It’s recovery.

As we look at what recovery means over the next few weeks, my prayer is you will be gentle with yourself, realizing you’re doing the best you can right now and recovery takes time and effort.

Challenge for Today: What might happen if we, just for today, took a new look at the word recovery and how it might apply to us?

(17-5-17)