Choose Hope

By Carl Kimbro, Fellowship Bible Church Celebrate Recovery Devotional Team, 12/9/20 

 

I love winter. I always hope that this is the year we will get a lot of snow. The cold air is invigorating and makes me feel so alive! But before I started going to CR and found freedom from my addictive sins, I loved winter for a different reason. The days were shorter, and it was dark both when I left for work and when I returned. I tried to hide in the darkness so no one could see how miserable I really was. Life seemed like nothing but sorrow, sin and one disappointment after another. I truly felt as if I had no hope for any kind of freedom from my struggles in life. 

When I first attended CR, I never participated. I just watched everyone else and tried to understand why they seemed so happy when I felt so hopeless. There was no way that they were sincere! I thought they were just caught up in the moment, and that happiness would disappear once they got home. I wanted their joy, peace and hope, but I did not believe it existed. 

Isaiah 40:30-31

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint. 

The whole chapter of Isiah 40 could apply to my life. But 30-31 is where I find my hope. As I embraced the principle of Celebrate Recovery, life slowly began to change. I found friends who understood what I was going thru. They encouraged me and prayed for me. I got out of my denial and started to live for God instead of for my own selfish desires. I found peace in forgiveness. I found strength in relationships. I found contentment in accepting how powerless I was to control the situation I was in. But most of all, I found hope! Hope that I could accept what I was unable to change and find peace in it.  Hope in the truth that there were many things I need to change, and that I could change them by trusting in God. It took time. But by embracing my relationship with God and using the Celebrate Recovery steps and principles, life became less of a struggle for me. 

It is not always easy, and there are times I want to give up in frustration. But there is a sign hanging on the wall of my house that is a reminder: “Once you choose hope, anything is possible.”  Each time I read these words; it reminds me that hope is now a part of my recovery story. Without that hope, life for me would still be miserable.    

I encourage you today, do not let hopelessness overwhelm you. Tell someone about it. Work the CR steps and principles. Embrace your relationship with God. And let your hope come from him!

Click HERE to listen to "My Hope" by Paul Baloche

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