Step One talks about being powerless over alcohol in that you drink when you planned not to drink, or you drink more than you planned to drink, on a regular basis. Proverbs 23:29-35 says:
Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hat contentions? (disputes) Who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? (stumbling and falling, then not remembering) Who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women (or men) and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea (dizziness and nauseated) or as he that lieth at the top of a mast. They have stricken me shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again. (I want to get up and drink more wine).
King Solomon knew that these people were powerless over alcohol and that their lives had become unmanageable. St. Paul said it another way in Romans 7:18-19:
For I know that in me (that is in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me (he wants to do right) but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
It is fairly clear here that St. Paul the Apostle is powerless over the thorn in his flesh.
What we want to do is to get into recovery from this condition of powerlessness. II Corinthians 3:17 says:
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
So, liberty is freedom from being powerless, and according to the Bible, it comes from Jesus Christ. Recovery must mean liberty. II Timothy 2:22-26 says:
Flee also youthful lusts (addictions): but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves (addicts); if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
Liberty is looking much more attractive here, now that we see who is to blame and what we are trying to recover from. Proverbs 25:28 tells us:
He that hat no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without wall.
This tells me that without recovery I am defenseless against the attacks of the enemy. Finally Psalm 1119:133 says:
Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.
Here we see that we need to order our steps in God’s word if we want this liberty that we are talking about.
Why would we want to only order our steps by the word of God? Well, because the word of God is supernaturally powerful to bless, protect, heal, provide for and guide us in every way. So much so that John 1:1 says that the “Word was with God and the Word was God”. The Word is powerful! Hebrews 4:12 says:
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Do we mean to say that while we are discerning the word of God that the word of God is discerning us? Yes! I John 5:7 tells us:
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one.
That seems to be telling us that before Jesus Christ incarnated as a human being that He existed as the Word. And so it is.
The Word is cleansing and removes all of our addictions. John 15:3 says:
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
When we study the Word, then the Word abides, or lives, in us. John 15:7 tells us:
If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
The Word simply has to be planted in our hearts and minds and then we have the power to ask God to remove our cravings each time one rears its ugly head and they will be removed from us. What words should we plant? II Timothy 3:16-17 suggests:
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
Sobriety and freedom from addiction are very good works that will pay untold dividends to us and to our loved ones for all future times to come. Psalm 107:19-20 reveals:
Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saveth them out of their distresses. He sent His word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
Nothing is more devastating to our souls than addictions, so it is reassuring to know that God sends His Word to heal and save us. John 6:63 promises:
It is the spirit that quickeneth (heals): the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.
And further down, Joh 6:68 says:
Then Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.
So the Word not only promises us cleansing, healing and answered prayer, but also gives us eternal life! This fact is just so wonderful, how can we afford to look elsewhere? Proverbs 30:5 tells us:
Every word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him.
Thankfully, now we are also to be shielded from temptations and distractions by the word of God. Finally, Isaiah 55:10-11 states:
For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
God sent His Word to us to bless, protect, heal provide for and guide us. It shall accomplish those goals by the power of God Almighty.