Miracles

There are no coincidences in addiction recovery

Addicts, sometimes during recovery, mention “incredible coincidences” behind finding the recovery program or facility that worked magical abstinence and subsequent fruitful way of life. Invariably, that faith in coincidence will provoke advice from someone with more time in the program: “You are mistaken.

There are no coincidences in recovery from dependencies and compulsions. What are often mistaken for magical events are really miracles for which God chooses to remain anonymous.”

Those weighed down by various dependencies such as alcoholism, drug abuse, co-dependency, gambling, excessive sexual drives, or smoking come to recognise that the miracle of surrender to reality, which starts any recovery, is not the end miraculous experiences.

They happen all the time, not to a select group, but to all who hope for spiritual progress and have faith in the program’s potential for them

When we experience miracles, we must learn to accept them as part of recovery but not depend on them or anticipate them. They come to everyone in a Higher Power’s time, not at humanity’s bidding.

Remembering the Miracles

There can be a real danger in one’s attitude toward miracles. That is the failure to recognise and understand the living purposes and lessons in each blessing that overwhelms us. Every miracle that happens carries with it a message.

Recovering alcoholics and addicts in medical facilities, rehabs and fellowships such as Alcoholics Anonymous believe in miracles and accept them as part of arresting an incurable disease. That recovery has been possible for millions of Twelve Step members worldwide and reminds us of the fact that miracles are still with us.

Yet, in this age of new miracles, an alarming number of those who find recovery return to their active addiction. Some regain their recovery shortly, some after more years of misery, some never. Why have they forgotten the miracles of their healing?

In practically every instance, they have failed to act. Recovering addicts cannot just see, enjoy, and forget blessings; they must apply the lesson of the miracles.

Asking for Miracles

The result of recovery’s miracles is not all physical. The use of any miracle is mainly emotional and spiritual. Appreciating miracles through utilising their messages brings growth and progress in all phases of living.

Forgotten miracles cease to be tools for spiritual use when we lose sight of the fact that lifesaving events occurred because we believed they would take place.

We added faith and trust to belief. In some way, each miracle is an answer to a prayer, and this knowledge brings recovery. When belief, faith, and trust are absent, a miracle will not appear.

Miracles take substance from blind belief and child-like faith. Without frills or complications, it is easily understood, always recognisable. Such trust is nurtured by patience; God’s delay answering prayer does not mean God’s denial. The recipient believes a miracle maker could and would succeed.

We benefit from our miracles only when we understand our miracles have not been outright gifts. They have been earned some way, usually through a form of prayer. The suffering alcoholic may merely have cried out, “God help me” in agony or held a sincere desire for recovery. But when it comes, the miracle is more than a blessing.

To neglect making use of such a product of with-granting and lesson-teaching would be wasteful. We will learn from our miracles if we remember there are no demands implied in “ask and you shall receive.”

It becomes plain that miracles are used for spiritual progress when one accepts a miracle as an outcome of sincere prayer. Without recognising that prayer is behind miracles, we cannot fully understand that our purpose in living is in the revelations of miracles in recovery.

The faith within the experienced miracle indicates that miracles are meant to be an influence, not a merely temporary reactor. Faith is the foundation of freedom from fear. It adds security to a miracle.

Trusting in Miracles

Fear and despair disappear when a miracle takes place. Those who feel the power of a recovery miracle know anything good can happen and will happen because they have seen it and accepted the change. A miracle builds both resistance to compulsions and vigilance against complacency.

The beginning of trust is when you confide and share with your therapist or a Twelve Step meeting.

The lessons of miracles go beyond the “anything-can-happen” attitude into one that tells the recovering addict that what should happen will happen without the taint of ego. All recovering persons know certain significant changes have taken place because they are meant to have come true.

All this is possible if the elements that produce miracles – love, gratitude, humility, honesty, faith, belief, and trust – are used to prepare addicts for hearing at the proper time.

After any miracle is the revelation that there is a great difference between serenity and complacency, every dramatic change brings a realisation that problems are solved by striving to master living problems rather than escaping from life’s realities.

If you or a loved one is struggling with compulsive behaviours, call Freephone 0800 140 4044