Dear Friends,
Last night I attended Recovery Life, our church's ministry to
those seeking recovery from addiction. Like AA, we always have a speaker who
shares a testimony of how he or she found recovery through the power of
Christ. As I listened to our speaker share her story, I was intrigued to note
the number of times she had relapsed in her recovery process. For her, it was
one start after another, and each start ended the same-a return to her
addictive behavior.
Throughout her many failures, the speaker testified that there
were always people in her life who supported her and encouraged her on her
journey to recovery. They didn't give up on her, and they kept reminding
her that the power of Christ could break the bondage of her addiction.
Like finding Christ, finding the road to recovery is not always a one-time
event. Recovery can be a process that takes place over a
lengthy period of time.
Seeds that are planted don't sprout up overnight. You can't rush
the process. Each seed has a certain timetable before its flower is produced.
Think about your own life. How many people did God send into your life before
you received Jesus and experienced life change? If you were lucky, you had
people around you who were persistent in loving and praying for you, and
it was their persistence that strengthened you, especially during those
times when you were discouraged by your lack of progress.
Fortunately, our speaker had friends who were committed to her
recovery and who were with her for the long haul. Even when they failed to see
the changes in her life for which they had hoped, they never gave up on her.
Because of their patient love and constant and continued encouragement
amidst her many failures, she now enjoys seven years of sobriety, and like last
night, she is now sharing the story of her faith-based recovery journey to help
others find hope.
Often in our efforts to see someone saved, we feel we must give
them the whole gospel, and when they don't immediately pray the sinner's
prayer, we feel like we have failed, and we might choose to give up on them.
However, if we assume responsibility for the success of our evangelistic
efforts, we assume something that is not ours's to assume.
The same is true for the recovering addict. They may need to fail
a number of times before they experience and embrace the change in
their lives we hope to see, and they need people to continue to love and
encourage them as they seek their sobriety.
As believers we are called to be witnesses. Those were our
Savior's marching orders. We are reminded in 1 Peter 3:15 that we are to always
be prepared to give an account to everyone who asks us for the hope that we
have within us, but we are never responsible for the person's decision.
Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru) has a wonderful definition for
evangelism: "Evangelism is sharing Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit
and leaving the results up to God." We are not the ones responsible for
the person's salvation. We may deliver the message, but it is God who opens the
door to a person's heart. When we understand this, we will never feel a sense
of failure, regardless of a person's response to our message.
Whether you are witnessing to someone about Christ, or patiently
witnessing to them about recovery, we need to be patient but persistent in
offering our love and encouragement. Don't ever give up on them and continue to
let them know that you will always be there for them, even when they fail to
demonstrate the change you desire to see in them.
Remember "The righteous falls seven times and rises
again".........(Prov.24:6), and it just may be that it is the seventh time
that he/she chooses to never to fall again.
Yours in faith and friendship,
Tom
P.S. "Perseverance is the rope that ties the soul to the doorpost of heaven". Frances J. Roberts.
No comments:
Post a Comment