The One Thing Your Recovery is Missing Isn’t What You Think

If you’re struggling to stop drinking, you’ve probably tried everything. You’ve tried white-knuckling it with willpower. You’ve maybe tried rehab or meetings. You’ve sworn it off a hundred times.

But what if the single most important tool for recovery isn’t a tool at all? What if it’s something you can’t hold in your hand?

It’s faith.

What Exactly Is Faith?

The simplest definition is also the toughest: belief in something you cannot see, touch, taste, or smell.

It’s the feeling of being connected to a power that isn’t you. For years in the rooms of AA, I debated what this meant. I intellectualized it. I overcomplicated it. But for the person drowning in hangovers and wondering how many more they can survive, faith is not a debate topic.

It is your number one hope. It is the first moment where things can truly, fundamentally begin to improve.

A Message for the Person Who “Knows It All”

I was you. I saw it all. I thought my intelligence, my skills, my bank account, and my possessions were proof that I knew the way. I believed I was the exception to the rule.

If that sounds familiar, please hear this, not as a criticism, but as a warning from someone who’s been there:

The chances of your situation improving without you finding faith are slim to none.

The much more likely path is one of a bottom so deep and so dark that climbing out feels nearly impossible. Stubborn self-reliance is a one-way ticket to a pain I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

How to Find It: A Simple, Uncomplicated Path

You don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need to take a single step of blind faith.

1. Get a Bible. It’s that simple. You can have one delivered from Amazon tomorrow. I started in Genesis, but I’d recommend starting with the Book of John in the New Testament for a direct look at grace and hope.
2. Start Reading. Don’t worry about understanding everything. Just read. Let the words wash over you.
3. Get on Your Knees and Ask. This was my moment of surrender. On my tenth day in a rehab facility, beaten down and out of options, I got on my knees and asked Jesus to come into my life. I didn’t feel a lightning bolt. I just chose to believe.

And He did. He showed up. The change wasn’t always overnight, but the anchor was set. I was no longer alone in the fight.

Faith isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about finally stopping long enough to ask for help from the One who has them.

Watch the short message below:

If you’re tired of being the stubborn know-it-all who keeps getting beaten down, maybe it’s time to try something new. Something simpler. Something stronger than yourself.

Your truce begins with a single, faithful step.

Chris
Author of Grateful Truce

P.S. What was your moment of surrender? Share your story in the comments to give others hope.