12 STEPS - Step 6

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STEP 6

We are entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character.

BEFORE STEP 6

In Steps 4 and 5, many of us came face to face with some of our deepest held secrets and insecurities. We took a step forward into the light of God’s grace, trusting that He would greet us with love and acceptance, and not with the rejection and condemnation that we were so afraid of. Somehow, this step forward in faith gave us a freedom that we had not yet experienced, but had heard others speak about. We no longer carried with us the immense shame and guilt that our secrets had burdened us with, and instead we became known to others and to God. We saw that freedom was possible, we had experienced the beginnings of true freedom ourselves! Coming into the light, the reality of our sinful behavior became clear to us. We realized that underneath our behaviors and vices, it was really our warped understanding and attitude towards God, ourselves, and others that had driven our addiction. 

This is what the Lord says: ‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. (Jeremiah 17:5-8)

STEP 6

We began to see this underlying sin as defects of our character. They had occurred primarily from harm or hurt that we had experienced in our lives. They impacted our healthy desires, warping them to serve a purpose they were never meant to serve. A helpful way to see our desires is to group them into four main categories: 

  • Comfort

  • Pleasure

  • Security

  • Significance

Each desire itself is a God-given pathway to greater intimacy with Him and others. Yet sin had corrupted that pathway, and our desires took primary importance in our lives. We had become idolators, trading the truth of God’s love for a lie. This could not last, and as long as we continued to worship our idols, we could no longer experience true freedom, joy, and love. We acted out to cover or escape the truth that our hearts were not satisfied, our idols had promised us fulfillment and had given us nothing in return. We had become like those dry shrubs in the desert, wasting away with no roots or nourishment. 

SURRENDER

The pathway to restoration was once again in surrender. For many of us, we had learned to surrender our acting out behaviors, but still clung to our defects. We saw them as important, even essential to our inner life. We were afraid that by surrendering them to the Lord we would lose something that we could never regain. But if we take another small step out in faith, we will see a greater narrative at work, the process of redemption through Christ. As the needs of our heart are met in Christ’s love, we can surrender our idols, trusting that they can not offer us what He has secured in His blood. As each opportunity to surrender avails itself, we have to admit our powerlessness over the defects we cling to. Trusting that the Lord can meet our needs in that moment, we live each day open-handed. We find that as we go on, new defects and idols are revealed to us. Each time, we have to surrender our powerlessness over them, trusting that the Lord will meet whatever need they are trying to fill.

TODAY

In the midst of a global pandemic, we have an even greater opportunity to practice this open-handedness. Our idols will come to the fore as we face uncertainty, change, and hardship. The enemy will work powerfully in this time to try and make you believe that your defects and idols can give you something God cannot.  Yet we can place our hope and trust in Him, for “God is our Refuge and Strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1) He will be near to us, and sustain us in this season as in every other season. We have but to surrender our idols, and be willing to receive His care.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

REFLECTION

  1. From the four main desires above, which has been the primary desire that you have idolized in your life?

  2. How could that desire be transformed to lead you into intimacy with Christ? Read Romans 12:2, do you believe this is true?

  3. How have you seen your defects and idols reveal themself in this season? What would it take for you to surrender them, trusting that the Lord can meet your needs instead?