Spiritual Survival Guide
6: Keeping It Going: Moving Beyond Survival Mode
To do this properly, you need someone you can trust, someone able to un- derstand and to keep confidence. You need someone who won’t judge you or gossip about you. You need someone who will reassure you and confirm to you that you’re forgiven, even when you just keep condemning yourself. You need someone who can be a “little Christ” to you. So the question now is, Do you have that someone in your life? Because people like that can be hard to find—inside or outside. If you don’t have that someone, then that’s job number one. And if you do, then you’ve got a gift that you need to use. Sometimes the greatest spiritual gifts you’re ever going to be given are already near you. Ask around. Give it time. God will lead you to that person.
Steps Six and Seven: Repentance We get ready. And then we ask. We do an about-face. We turn around. We pivot our will. We make a second and deeper surrender to God. Steps six and seven say that we “were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character,” and we “humbly asked him to remove our shortcomings.” This is the turn-around step, the about-face, the step of repentance. It’s taking all those sins, shortcomings, and character defects from our inven- tory, and then not only looking at them, but actually letting go of them. But here’s the cruel irony of sin. More often than not, it’s the things we most hate about ourselves that are the hardest to let go of. It’s amazing how often we define ourselves by our problem areas. I’m hot-headed, crazy, proud and defiant, a drug user, out of control, a risk-taker. We worry about who we would be if those things in us got changed. We wonder, “What will be left of me?” So let’s just be honest and say upfront that almost none of us are that ready. Not entirely ready. We all have our sticking points—hidden or otherwise. But that’s okay, because that’s not really the point. Not yet. The point here is, Are we willing to be willing? Are we willing to ask God to make a start with those things? And are we humble enough to ask and keep on asking, to simply say, “Lord, I’m willing. Help my unwill- ingness”? (Check out the story of Jesus and man with a sick son in Mark 9:17-24.) That’s the step that we’re talking about. It’s a willingness to step towards our destiny in Christ, over and over and over again. In a way, we’ve circled back to step three: deciding to turn our lives and wills over to God. Only, this time, it’s a lot more specific. This time, we’re a lot more aware of exactly what we’re turning over, and what a real about-face we’re asking God to help us make.
Think About It. Talk About It.
1. How would you fill in the blank in the following sentence? My life has become unmanageable, and I am powerless over the sin of ___________ . Now, try saying that out loud to yourself. Is it true? Is it humbling?
2. Do you think that God could deal with the unmanageable things in your life? Why or why not? How does that make you feel? 3. Does it seem depressing, scary, or wonderful (or a combination of all three) to “surrender” yourself to God? Are you ready to stop procrastinat- ing and just turn it over to God (either for the first time, or all over again)? 4. Do you have the courage to look deep inside yourself and see what’s missing or spoiled? Do you have a list of resentments that you still need to deal with? Who and what do you resent? And why? 5. Speaking of courage and humility, have you ever truly confessed your secrets and sins to another person? If so, what happened? If not, why not? Ask God to prepare you to take this step.
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