Power and Process
Editors View
The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous states “We … are … men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body” (Alcoholics anonymous, Foreword to the First Edition, xiii, italics mine). At the same time, those of us who attend 12-step meetings usually identify ourselves as recovering. I have always struggled with the disparity between “recovered” and “recovering.” Recovered appears to imply a finished work while recovering denotes that recovery is ongoing. Many in the field of addiction have strong thoughts and feelings about this issue, and struggle to reconcile the difference between these two perspectives. As I’ve continued to wrestle to understand this issue myself, I’ve come to see recovered and recovering point us to two wonderful, but differing aspects of our wonderful Savior Jesus Christ.
Recovered connotes the power of God to deliver us from the chains of bondage to addiction. It reminds us of the finished work that God desires to do in each one of us. “But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ” 1 Corinthians 15:57. It reminds us of our holy standing with God in Christ Jesus. “He has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault” Colossians 1:22. “You are complete through your union with Christ” Colossians 2:10. Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ” 2 Corinthians 2:14.
Recovering points us to the process of sanctification that we are now in, and will continue to be in for eternity. Paul writes “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already achieved perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus possessed me” Philippians 3:12. He also talks about the process of sanctification when he says “I die daily” 1 Corinthians 15:31.
As a recovering child of God, I sometimes struggle with black and white thinking. Isn’t it wonderful to know that God is not limited by our finite thinking. He can express his power in our lives in the context of our very human process. I am learning more each day how to let go and let Him be God. In his mercy, he does not allow us to pigeon-hole him into boxes of our own making. I, for one, am grateful for that.