Seth Charles, Celebrate Recovery-North Ministry Leader
Scripture Reading – Luke 1:26-38
30 “But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid”
“Do not be afraid,” is sometimes easier said than done, right? Especially when things are happening that we cannot understand or did not ask for. That could just about sum up 2020 in a sentence or two.
It has me thinking of times in my life when I have been afraid. Times when I was so confused that the confusion turned into fear. Times when nothing at all made sense to me and I had no idea what to do. Times when I had nowhere to turn and I had no place to go to feel safe.
I am led to think of the times of active addiction in my life. I think of the confusion that was in my mind when I realized that my life was no longer in my control, but it was being controlled by drugs and alcohol. I think of the shame and the terror that was in my mind when I so desperately wanted someone to understand me. I remember thinking that the thought of recovering from this dark place seemed impossible.
Somewhere near the lowest of my lows, my life took a turn very similar to the turn Mary’s life took when Gabriel greeted her. It was at this moment that we were both being introduced to our Savior. It was at that moment that we were both told “Do not be afraid.” It was the moment that the Holy Spirit came upon us and the power of Christ changed our lives. It was at that moment when we both met Jesus for the first time.
We lived different lives and we surely had different stories and different struggles. But we both had doubts and we both thought there was no way, but at that moment, we were both shown that with God, “Nothing is impossible.” v.37
Our lives would never be the same again. For me, I found that recovery was possible for me. I found that I could be forgiven and that there was a new life for me! For Mary, she was led to a manger in Bethlehem where Jesus entered this world in the most impossible situation, under the most impossible circumstances. That moment most definitely changed both of our lives and that very same moment continues to change lives today by turning impossible stories into possible stories.
In His Steps,