Posts Tagged: 12-step sponsor

“The Lordship of Jesus: Doing the Next Right Thing when it’s Dark”

On December 28, 2019 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

So, I was listening to a talk by Andy Stanley.  It was the first in a series titled “You’re Not the Boss of Me: How to Say No to the Emotions that Compete for Control.”  It isn’t the first time I’ve listened to this series, but it’s the first time I heard something that is incredibly important.

Toward the end of his talk, Andy said something like the following: “Christians already have a boss, and he’s a good one.”  The issue of saying no to competing emotional voices that emanate from my own heart, or from the devil, or from the world (or from wherever) is the issue of saying a consistent “Yes!” to the LORD Jesus Christ.

But, how do I do that?  I called my sponsor to do my daily report, and asked him that question.  My sponsor is a fellow recovering addict, and is also a brother in Christ.  He is also intensely practical, and doesn’t put up with any over-intellectualizing crap from me.

“I know the answer to this one!” he said.  “Just keep doing the next right thing!” he continued.

Now, I should have seen this coming.  He tells me this all the time.  Sometimes, he just abbreviates it: JKDTNRT.

Apparently Google was listening in on our conversation (a scary thought), because right after we ended our conversation, the Google Girl came on with “Just keep doing the next right thing.  Here you go!”

And there was a “Frozen 2” song by Kristen Bell.

“I’ve seen dark before
But not like this
This is cold
This is empty
This is numb
The life I knew is over
The lights are out
Hello, darkness
I’m ready to succumb

[Verse 2: Anna]
I follow you around
I always have
But you’ve gone to a place I cannot find
This grief has a gravity
It pulls me down
But a tiny voice whispers in my mind
“You are lost, hope is gone
But you must go on
And do the next right thing”

[Verse 3: Anna]
Can there be a day beyond this night?
I don’t know anymore what is true
I can’t find my direction, I’m all alone
The only star that guided me was you
How to rise from the floor
When it’s not you I’m rising for?
Just do the next right thing
Take a step, step again
It is all that I can to do
The next right thing


[Bridge: Anna]
I won’t look too far ahead
It’s too much for me to take
But break it down to this next breath
This next step
This next choice is one that I can make

[Verse 4: Anna]
So I’ll walk through this night
Stumbling blindly toward the light
And do the next right thing
And with the dawn, what comes then
When it’s clear that everything will never be the same again?
Then I’ll make the choice
To hear that voice
And do the next right thing.”

That’s a pretty good description of sane living, if you ask me.  For me, as a Christ-follower, it is also a pretty good description of living under the lordship of Christ.

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“LEARNING THE FINE ART OF LEANING”

On August 24, 2018 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

DTEB, “LEARNING THE FINE ART OF LEANING”

“LORD, please prop us up on our leaning side.” (Prayer by an anonymous saint)

“I’m Learning to Lean on Jesus.” (Lyrics and title of a song)

“We all need somebody to lean on.”  (Bill Withers, “Lean on Me”)

These days, my daily affirmations tend to deal with pain.  That is because I am dealing with pain.  Here is my affirmation (in bold font), as part of my daily report to my 12-step sponsor:

“Dear ________,

Today, by God’s grace, I am learning to live with and learn from pain.  Whenever I need to (all of the time, I suppose!), I will lean on God.”

 

My sponsor replied with the following:

“God provides support in many ways. Lean on family, friends, and furry friends.”

 

My reply to my sponsor’s reply turns on an ironic fact.  The “ironic fact” was my little dog.

“Dear ­­­­­­_______,

Just before I read your e mail, I looked down at my little “furry friend” sleeping in my lap, and thought of how much I love our dog, Laylah.

We all lean.  The only questions are:

  • Upon what or whom are we leaning?
  • Why are we leaning?
  • Can others lean on us?
  • Are we okay with all this leaning stuff?”

We spend a lot of time when we’re little learning to stand and walk on our own.  That takes more than a year.  The rest of our lives is spent learning to lean, and it is one of the most important lessons of life.  It is the other important part of the equation.  If we only learn to stand and walk on our own, we are only half human.

We like to think that we can make it on our own.  We can’t.  And if we could, it wouldn’t be good.

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“THERE’S HOPE, AND THEN THERE’S HOPE!”

On October 30, 2017 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.”  (Psalm 42:5, KJV)

“Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues.”  (Brother Lawrence.  Read more: https://www.christianquotes.info/top-quotes/16-encouraging-quotes-about-hope/#ixzz4wiEMwLpV)

My sponsor, Bob, is good about encouraging me, but at times he also challenges me.  For example, part of my report to my sponsor this morning was the following:

Subject: REPORT AND AFFIRMATION

Dear Bob,

“I plan to live in recovery today, without exception I hope!”

AFFIRMATION:  Today, by God’s grace, I will an exceptionally 12-step life.

My sponsor replied, “Get rid of the qualifier, ‘I hope’. You cannot give yourself permission to fail. Do or Don’t, there is no try.”

Enjoy your day 😊

However, I e mailed him the following reply:

“Not so sure you’re right on this one.  After all, hope is one of the three eternal virtues (1 Corinthians 13: 13).

I think that the crucial question is this: In whom or what am I trusting?  If I am trusting in myself or my unaided efforts, my “hope” would be another word for despair.

But if I am hoping in God, that is an entirely different matter.

However, your comment has invited me to ask a very difficult and important question.  Is my hope centered in God?

I hope (!!) this clarifies matter.   😊

Warm Regards”

But in a very profound sense, my sponsor is right.  I do frequently use hope to give myself an out for failure.  And when hope is used in that way, I am setting myself up for failure, and hope is not biblical hope.

“Hope thou in God,” says the psalmist (Psalm 42:5, 11).  And God is the One in whom I can hope confidently.  God forgives my sins, but God does not make room for those sins.  Rather, God makes room for me.  And a huge part of that “making room” for me is cleaning out all the moral, relational garbage that I tend to cling to as if it were some sort of treasure.

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