It is Friday and this week has been very full with Celebrate Recovery topping off yesterday. Our lesson was the one called HOPE. I was struck as I listened to it to hear the words in Step 2: “I came to believe….” This lesson of HOPE follows the first one, DENIAL and the 2nd one, POWERLESS. It is amazing to me that I am powerless to do anything about what I had believed for so long about who I am and what value I might have to God and others. I HAD to earn this. Finally, after all of these years, I found those words meaning a great deal when I heard them last night: I came to believe.

The first time I ever remember hearing the word, spirit, was my dad telling me he had to break or kill that spirit in me. Little did I understand that God had made me of value to Him from the time I was conceived. Not until I finally recognized and then rejected the lie of my own self-worth was I able to replace the lie with self-love, self-appreciation and self-confidence. I’ve written about this several times over the past couple of years. But, all of this came flooding back last night as I heard this lesson on hope. These words, I came to believe, were the start. I can believe because God gave me HOPE that what He created in me is of value to Him. I’ve been able to rest in this truth for the first time these past couple of years.

A couple of the men in share group are where I had been–replacing what they know is a lie. I know God will do the same for them as He has done for me. The lesson concludes with the statement, “Don’t give up until the miracle happens.” I pray this for them and they even brought this out in the open as they shared. How good our God is!