Image: George Mendoza
Good morning, good God!
A friend of mine just completed 10 days of sobriety
from a substance she’d been abusing…
Ten days, Lord!
Not too long ago, and for a long time,
she didn’t believe she could do this for one day
but now, with your strength and grace,
she has 10 days…
I praise and thank you, Lord,
for it is from your heart and hand
that all good blessings flow…
So many of us are addicted, Lord,
in small ways and big ways
to so many substances:
work, drugs, possessions,Help us, Lord!
tobacco, television, alcohol,
food, the Internet, sex,
gambling, porn, relationships...
We want to stop using
whatever uses us,
holds us in its grip,
keeps us from the serenity we desire,
the life we used to have,
the life we want to have again…
So this morning, Lord, we offer you our powerlessness
over those things that have power over us…
We offer you our admission
that in some ways, even many ways, Lord,
our lives have become unmanageable…
We offer you our surrender,
our decision to turn our will and our lives over to you
and your love and care for us…
Help us, Lord,We offer you our desire to make amends
to be honest with ourselves and with you…
Help us to admit to others
what we admit to ourselves and to you…
Help us be ready, Lord,
to have you forgive and heal
our shortcomings and character defects…
to those we have hurt or harmed…
We offer you our willingness to learn from the past, Lord,
and to acknowledge always our dependence on your grace…
We offer you our desire to deepen our relationship with you
and to seek to know your will for us
and to depend on you
for the wisdom and strength to carry it out…
We offer you our promise to share with others in need
what your grace has accomplished in us…
Good God of Monday mornings,
help us keep it in today
and help us find our strength in you,
one day at a time…
Amen.
-ConcordPastor
Thank you for this Monday Morning Offering. Many of us or our families have had addictions touch our lives. The one day at a time is a wonderful approach. Actually, it is a wonderful approach to dealing with life in general. Stay in the present. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow hasn't arrived. We can only deal with today. Why burden ourselves with past or future worry we can do nothing about.
ReplyDeleteWith God's grace may we each try to live as best we can in the present moment. It takes courage to face life's trials, but in God we have the best companion we could ever hope for to accompany us.
Rosemary
Rosemary- I agree with you- especially your second paragraph...
ReplyDeleteand even though I do try to do this, I need constant reminders from myself and others...
(and it is SO MUCH easier said than done... )