Sometimes, all you need is a shovel

 As a missionary in Oklahoma, I heard of an interaction between a fellow missionary and someone on the street. The conversation was related to faith in Jesus Christ and how it can power us to find hope and peace in this life. During this interaction, the missionary was asked, if God commanded you to move that mountain, could you do it? The missionary smiled and said yes. The missionary said he would need a shovel but knew that God would give him the power to complete the task.

I have often considered this interaction and how it relates to addiction recovery. It often reminds me of the prophet Nephi and how he reacted to God’s commandment to build a ship. When Nephi received the commandment, his first response was “Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?” (1 Nephi 17:9) Nephi didn’t look at his own physical constraints as a problem. Nephi knew that if God had commanded him to build a ship, he could do it.

These two examples are powerful reminders to not doubt ourselves when God gives us a commandment. When God gives us a commandment, He always is ready to empower us to succeed. There have many times in my recovery journey when all I could do was be still and tell myself that I didn’t want to relapse. My next action was to pray to God. I would open my heart and tell God that I didn’t want to relapse. What usually follows is something simple that pulled me out of the depths of temptation and put me back on track. Some of the simple things were going outside, serving others, writing, doing some exercise, or writing my wife a note. These actions don’t seem like much, but they are exactly what I needed.

So, when life is hard, and you feel like you can’t, just remember that God wants to empower you to succeed through this life. So, when life gets hard and difficult, make sure to petition God for help and support. Then after your petition, grab a shovel and get to work! You are going to find, as I did, the effort you put in is multiplied by God and you will find peace through Him.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Addiction Recovery is not Passive

There is a big push in the world today to develop passive income. The advertisements to develop passive income can be seen all over social media, news outlets, and folks just talking about it. For those who don’t know, passive income is an income stream that brings in money with minimal effort. It basically requires a little investment up front and then it runs itself. This idea of passive income made me think of addiction and addiction recovery. Addiction is similar to passive income. Addiction starts small, with a little ‘investment’. Then it begins to build. The addiction develops into something bigger and bigger. Soon enough, it’s a raging monster that is out of control. Addiction recovery, however, is not passive at all. Addiction recovery takes effort and determination. Addiction recovery takes consistent, daily effort no matter where you are along the addiction recovery journey. This realization that addiction recovery is not passive didn’t click for me for some time. I just e...
Read more

Be ready to pivot

  In my addiction recovery journey, I have learned the ability to pivot when I feel inspired by the Holy Ghost to do something. This ability to pivot is essential to not only addiction recovery but to life in general. A favorite example of mine in the scriptures is about the man, Gideon. A disciple of God, Gideon was called upon to lead an army against the Midianites. After gathering a powerful army, Gideon was told that he needed to reduce his force. After two trials, Gideon’s force of ten’s of thousands was reduced to 300 men. Why did the Lord reduce Gideon’s numbers? The Lord taught Gideon that he reduced the force to show that he, the Great Jehovah, was responsible for the victory. ( Judges 7 ) Being able to pivot is an act of faith and trust in Christ. I learned this the hard way many times. I recall many times in my life when I felt prompted to avoid a situation. The situation wasn’t sexual in nature but it was dangerous. He is how those situations usually played out. I woul...
Read more

Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good

 Great mentors and leaders have a profound impact on those they interact with. One such mentor and leader would use a phrase that has stayed with me. The phrase went as follows: “Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good”. When I first heard this phrase, I was confused. I had always strived for building the perfect product or analysis. This leader explained the goal of every project was to improve the client’s outcome, not produce the ideal solution. I caught hold of this vision and began to execute against it. My work improved. My focus improved. My outcomes were better. More importantly, the clients I served started to have better outcomes. I began to see this phrase impact my life more than in the work sense. My thoughts began to turn to my addiction recovery journey. I found myself focusing on the perfect outcome. I was focused on that ‘perfect day’ when I had nailed the perfect outcome. I was so focused on finding the perfect solution that I didn’t allow myself to see the goo...
Read more