He Heard My Cry!

By Kareena Holloway, Fellowship Bible Church, Rogers, Celebrate Recovery TEAM Women's Encourager Coach, 10/16/19



In the first weeks into my recovery, I was having one of many gut-wrenching conversations which needed to be had with my husband. Seeing clearly how I had hurt my family was so much to bear and I found myself in one of a series of anxiety attacks. This wasn't something where I could just say "I'm sorry" and move on with life. I had broken TRUST in my marriage. My panic came from the idea and thought that I had to figure this out..I had to come up with some way in which I could rebuild who I was. All I could see then was the enemy closing in on all sides. I didn't know what to do. I was afraid, and more than anything, I just wanted to wake up from this very, very bad dream.  However, that is not what God wanted. He wanted me to turn everything over to HIM.  Right then and there, I started to pray to God to help me through.  I took a deep breath, and felt a calmness lay over me like a warm blanket. My Rescuer heard my cry and He came to help me!  He gave me the strength to hear some really tough things that needed to be said to me, the courage to speak the truth, compassion for my husband, and the wisdom to come to Celebrate Recovery where I would go on to learn the tools to help me with of my hurts, habits, and hang-ups.  That first night, I received hope in knowing that God and my new friends would be there with me through it all, no matter what. Because of God, Celebrate Recovery, and our willingness to work on our individual recovery, my husband Joe and I have been married for twenty-three years and are closer than ever before!  
Today, after being in CR for over nine, I know this to be a fact:  No matter how long I am in recovery, we need to remember this truth: God is good and loves us with such a deep, deep love that He sent his own son to be crucified in order to save us from eternal death. The shame and condemnation that brings fear, anxiety, and isolation are the enemy's lies, constructed to steal, kill and destroy.  
Take a minute to be still with God:
Remember where you started.
Thank God for hearing your calls to Him.  
Reflect on how far He's brought you through Celebrate Recovery.
Thank Him and consider how you can share that with the newcomer.

Click HERE to listen to So Good to Me by Cory Asbury
1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.  2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him.
Psalm 40:1-3

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