“Healing” sounds pleasant. We envision just going about our business as, over time (hopefully quickly), the wound closes, the resulting scar lightens and voila!, before we know it, we’re back to normal. If we’re one of the lucky ones, we might even receive an instantaneous healing from God. You know the kind. One minute you have a problem. The next minute you don’t. Isn’t that what we’d all prefer?
There are many times, however, when our healing requires a measure of participation from us. We must take medicine; clean and re-bandage a wound, or subject ourselves to grueling physical therapy. It’s may be a little less desirable route—but it gets us to where we want to be and we can deal with that.
And then there’s “recovery.” What’s that mean anyway? Is it different than “healing”? It sure sounds like a lot more work . . . and maybe a bit messier. After all, they “recover” dead bodies and stolen property. It all seems a little dark and dangerous. But recovery from addiction is really just the opposite of that. It may be messy, but it’s actually the process of coming OUT of the darkness and danger that has taken control of our life. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines recovery as “a return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength. The action or process of regaining possession or control of something stolen or lost.” So we ARE recovering something that was stolen—something stolen from US!
Recovery is the process of returning to our original God-given identity—the person we were created to be before all the hurt, confusion and fear in our lives robbed us of our authentic selves. It certainly involves the healing of some of our old wounds, but it is so much more. The enemy wanted to destroy us, but with the help of God and others, we can not only reclaim what we lost, but we can become increasingly able to fully partake of ALL of God’s blessings.
“But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.” —Galatians 5:22 – The Message
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