Scripture: John 3:5-8
“The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:8)
Some years ago, I read a story about Dr. M. Scott Peck who became a Christian late in his life. He was often asked by others, if he was a born again Christian. He responded by saying, if he was born again, it was a prolonged and difficult delivery. I have since come to understand too clearly exactly what Dr. Peck was saying, many experiences of coming to faith are prolonged and difficult deliveries.
While conducting workshops among faith communities, I have had church leaders tell me that if the AOD dependent person would just give their life to Christ and be born again they would be healed and their problem gone. As important as I know spiritual formation and faith are to recovery, I found that the delivery is far more difficult. Most AOD dependent people would love to have God do all the heavy lifting, but we know life doesn’t always work that way. What is worth having is worth working hard to gain and keep. Generally, what the AOD dependent person wants is that God will remove the consequences of their usage, but allow them to continue their use as before. It just doesn’t work that way.
Jesus is telling us we need to experience a new birth in the Spirit, but we need to gain a reliance upon the movement of the Holy Spirit. We need to learn to listen to the changing movements of the Spirit among us. For us to be lead to a new birth in the spirit, we will discover the spirit will blow us to destinations where we might not wish to go and ask us to quietly rest in the silence, to hear the sounds of the Spirit working among us. Silence is difficult for the AOD dependent person because they have grown accustomed to the noise which surrounds them.
If we are willing to reach out God’s spirit will go with us, but we might not discern how it is working to bring new life. Being born again will not solve all our problems, it will often lead to a difficult and prolonged journey to discover our role within God’s world. Though with the help and reliance upon the Spirit it will be a journey worth the time taken. The recovering person needs to learn to discern the movement of the Spirit just as the church needs to continuously discern the Spirit’s movement within their members lives together. It is how we are born refreshed and new each day.
Lee McDermott, Contributor
Remember in Prayer: Our ability to discern the Spirit’s movement around us.
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