Lenten Devotional - Day 22

Scripture: Romans 5:12-21

“For just as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,” (Rom. 5:19-20)

  There is much we can do to assist others in achieving their recovery, but we must remember, we are not alone in this pursuit. We are partners with God, we need to depend upon God who can do what we can’t now see or things we can’t now do.

  I have over the years worked with many individuals whom I prayed for while working with them and I witnessed the grace of God at work within them. I have seen God intervene in ways I could not imagine and often, was unable to see at first, but only later recognized God’s hand at work where, “grace abounded all the more,” (v. 20)

  Denial can be a very strong force in the lives of those with dependency problems, they harbor the common illusion that many people hold that addiction couldn’t possibly happen to me. Paul in this passage speaks of disobedience, this disobedience is like the meaning of denial you often hear regarding those with AOD dependency. In both denial and disobedience, we believe our view of the world is better than the reality which we clearly face and the reality that others see quite clearly, but we question their perceptions of the same reality.

  Obedience calls on us to see the world as it currently exists and it is not always a very pleasant picture of humanity. Obedience to God's will does not mean everything will go smoothly or there won’t be some difficult hills to climb. Obedience does not guarantee that the wind will always be at our backs and that the journey will be calm and peaceful. Jesus told his disciples to cross to the other side of the lake, even though he knew the wind would be working against them. Jesus does tell us that he will never leave us alone and will be with us until the end of the age.

  One of my favorite old hymns is “Trust and Obey”. When I was, younger I was not fond of this hymn, trusting and obeying was not high on my list of things to do. As I grew older, increased in maturity, and hopefully wiser, I recognized how important trusting and obeying had become to my spiritual formation. When a person enters treatment for AOD dependency, their initial posture is not geared toward trusting and obeying, so some time is needed for them, to come to trust the treatment staff and come to comply or obey their treatment plan. Trust and obedience does not come easily, but is essential to treatment success. In early recovery, trusting someone can prove difficult and complicated and disobedience has become a way of life and not easily relinquished.

Lee McDermott, Contributor

Remember in Prayer: Professionals who work each day to lead others to life and recovery from their addiction.

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