The Power of Surrender. It’s Weird.

The power of addiction can be overcome by God’s grace. Period. God does not want His children in bondage. He made us in the divine image, free to act and choose. Somehow the power of addiction has captured us. We need to find a way to let God’s power into this dark and scary place. How do we do that?

It’s probably best to turn to those who have experienced a release from their addiction. The first people that come to mind are our brothers and sisters in the 12 Step Program of Recovery. Over the years they have discovered a certain path to victory over addiction to food, alcohol, pornography, gambling, etc. These 12 steps, if followed with docility and humility, will lead to freedom from addiction.

I want to focus on the first three steps as I feel they hold the key to all that follows. Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over____________. Step 2: We came to believe that God (my Higher Power) could restore us to freedom and sanity. Step 3: We made a decision to turn our will and our lives to the care of God.

Here I think is the genius of the 12 Steps. It comes by admitting we’ve lost the battle. The addiction is just too big and too strong to hold out against. Every time it’s me vs. my addiction . . . I lose. I’ve tried a 1000 times to NOT do that and a 1000 times I failed.

The key to “sobriety”, as they say, is to admit I’ve lost. It’s a moment of terrible honesty. It takes real humility. Our enemy the devil, hates it when we’re honest. He wants us to think our addiction is not that bad so we’ll continue to play this losing game with him.

The terrible truth is I’ve lost the battle. I’ll never overcome this addiction by myself; and here is where the miracle happens. We let go of the part that’s broken (me) and we turn to a power that we’ve never called on before (The Lord).

Here’s a picture of what this healthy surrender looks like. Imagine a boxing ring (sorry ladies!). Inside stands Mike Tyson (the famous heavy weight champ). He’s breathing fire and motions for you to join him in the ring. You’ve gone toe to toe with him in the past. He always knocks you out. Every time.

Would anyone on earth fault you for not going into the ring with this ferocious warrior? In fact, wouldn’t people question your sanity if you were dumb enough to get in that ring? What’s the smart thing to do? Why not tell old Mike, “I’m done fighting you. I always lose. I’m not getting in that ring anymore.” The power of surrender robs addiction of its power. It can’t conquer you because you’re just not going to play. Simple eh?!

But now comes the positive side, something you can DO. Steps 2 & 3 point to a moment when “we came to believe that God will help” and “we made a decision to turn our will and life over to the care of God.” (This “came to believe” is a blind trust. It’s a letting go. A death of sorts. It’s a grace from God. Pray for this gift of surrender). In short it’s like saying, “I can’t God. But you can . . . if I get out of the way.” Then the daily repetition of these steps begins (sometimes out loud to God in prayer). “I can’t Lord. You can. I’m yours. Do what you want with me.” Daily . . . daily . . . we have to return to these steps: surrender, believe in that power beyond yours, and giving Him charge of your life.

Slowly, sometimes quickly, the compulsion to “get in the ring” weakens. The addiction doesn’t go without a fight however. It uses many tricks and voices in your head to try to convince you how futile are your efforts. “You’ll never lick this. Think how boring and cold life will be without me to comfort you. You’ll never make it without me (your addiction).” All lies.

So much more to consider on this topic but for now I think if we focus on two things:
1. “I surrender . . . I’ve lost the battle.” and
2. “I’m in your hands Lord. I’ll be the clay; you be the potter.” You will begin to see God’s freedom dawn on you.

One more thing . . . once you’ve surrendered DON’T LOOK BACK. Go straight ahead. Don’t worry. Freedom takes time.

Fr. Tim