When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you. - Isaiah 43:2

There are times in the recovery process when it feels like we will drown in
sorrow. The losses, the betrayals, the failures threaten to overwhelm us.
The intensity of the emotional pain frightens us in times like this. We feel
ourselves loosing ground as life swirls around us.

This text states with great clarity two central truths which are critical to
our survival in times like this. First, God has made a very specific promise
to us. God says "I will be with you." This may not always be what we want.
We may want God to take the floods of life away. We may want God to build
dams upstream in life so that the danger of flood is diminished. But, God's
promise is clear. I will be with you.

Secondly, this text says very clearly "When you pass through the waters,
they will not sweep over you." God will protect us and see us through. There
are times in recovery when there just doesn't seem to be any way to make it.
Nothing is more painful in these times than to have someone who stands at a
distance express optimism about our recovery in a way that minimizes the
struggle. ["Oh, you're going to be fine. Stop worrying about it."]

Conversely, nothing is more valuable in these times than to have someone
with us who sees the danger clearly but who is able to be hopeful for us and
protect us and see us through

For your promise to be with me in the floods of life, God,
I give you thanks.
Help me to sense your presence.
For your hopefulness about my recovery,
I give you thanks.
Help me to share in your hope.
You are Life-Preserver to me, God.
Thank you.
Amen.

Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan
Source: The National Association for Christian Recovery
(www.nacronline.com)

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