Step 8

 "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;"

Isaiah 1:19

National Recovery Month has about one week left, and we are coming down the home stretch of taking a deeper look into the 12 steps of recovery.  Today, we are brought to step 8.  In this step we make a list of those whom we have harmed AND become willing to make amends to them.  If your walk in recovery is anything like mine, then this will be an on-going step for you.  The longer I continue my walk in recovery the more the Lord reveals to me people I have hurt in different situations and circumstances throughtout my life.  I have never been able to sit down and write a complete and comprehensive step 8 list in one go at it.  I'm sure the same is for you.  It is important to remember that we are all in sin recovery.  Whether you have suffered with substance abuse disorder or not, we can all benefit from spending quiet time with our God and evaluating and considering those we have done wrong to.  As people come to mind we make a list, and we benefit the most when we make this list specific.  Specifically write down the name of the person, when the hurt took place, and the exact nature of it.  As we spend time in communion with the Lord, the Holy Spirit will convict our hearts, and bring to mind these names and events.  As we write these down we pray that our hearts will be come willing to make these amends and right our wrongs with those we have hurt.  In the scripture above the prophet Isaiah is prophesying about the lives of the nation of Israel.  Isaiah tells the people that they need to become willing, and then obedient, to what the Lord would have them do, and this is what will bring the fruit of goodness to their lives.  In this step we allow God to bring these people to mind, but then we have to become willing in our hearts to make the amends.  In the next step we will talk more about the obedience needed to further our recovery walk, but it is important to understand that willingness is a posture of the heart, not of the mind.  When we do things out of the willingness of the mind, we are simply doing them because we know, in our thoughts, that this is the right thing to do.  There is minimal to no power in doing things this way.  But, when we do things out of the willingness of our hearts, then and only then, does the action we are taking become sincere.  And this is what God really wants from us, a sincere heart that will be obedient to serve Him.  When we become willing in our hearts to do what God asks us to do, then He moves in big ways in our lives!  This is the start of true and blessed freedom and peace in our walk in recovery and with the Lord!  Today, pray and evaluate your heart.  Ask yourself, are you willing in your heart to make an amends to those you have hurt?  Are you willing to do this with the sincerity that the Lord requires?  Today remember, "if you are willing and obedient, then you will eat the good of the land".  Love you all!  Praying for you and yours!  Have a blessed day, it's your choice!