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PRINCIPLE 2
Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him, and that He has the power to help me recover.
Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
MATTHEW 5:4
STEP 2
We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
For it is God who is works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.
PHILIPPIANS 2:13
In the first principle, we admitted we were powerless. It is through this admission of our powerlessness that we are able to believe and receive God’s power to help us recover.
We do need to be careful, though, not to just cover the bottomless pit of our hurts, hang-ups, and habits with layers of denial or just try some quick-fix. Instead, we need to keep those hurts exposed to the light so that through God’s power they can truly heal.
Sitting around holding in your stuff is right where the enemy wants you, but once you expose it, it begins to lose its power over you. …. From a young age I held my feelings in – even after being able to visit my mom once and watching her be beaten by her then husband and after he passed out she shot him in the head and killed him right in front of me – I was 6 years old and she took me to someone house and dropped me off. No one ever asking me about that day, no therapy, no discussions, nothing – and I was 6 I didn’t know I was supposed to process feelings – so they got stuffed right along with the rest of my feelings. The enemy was probably laughing his head off – But God…. Read a little about how my But God story went right here >> https://rachelbeckner.com/2019/01/21/brother-ray-windom/ That enemy has tried to keep me stunned in fear and gripped with hopelessness for way too long!!!
It’s in the second principle that we come to believe God exists, and that we are important to Him. God wants to fill our lives with His love, His joy, and His presence
One of my very favorite parables is in Luke 15, the story of the Prodigal Son. Though the story is about a father’s love for his lost son, it is really a picture of God the Father’s love for you. God’s love is looking for you, no matter how lost you feel.
God’s searching love can find you, no matter how many times you may have fallen into sin. God’s hands of mercy are reaching out to pick you up and to love and forgive you.
That’s where you will find hope, and that’s why they call Principle 2 the “hope” principle.
HOPE
Lets examine HOPE in the acrostic:
H IS FOR HIGHER POWER
H stands for HIGHER power. Our Higher Power is the one and only true Higher Power and He has a name: Jesus Christ!
In the past you may have believed in Jesus’ existence and you may have even attended church. But what you will find in Principle 2 is a personal relationship with Christ. You will see that Jesus desires a moment-to-moment relationship with us. For He can do for us what we have never been able to do for ourselves.
Everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by his power.
ROMANS 11:36
Many people today believe their doubts and doubt their beliefs!
Have you ever seen an idea? Have you ever seen love? Have you ever seen faith? Of course not. You may have seen acts of faith and love, but the real things—the lasting things in this world are the invisible spiritual realities.
This leads us to the first four words of the second step:
We came to believe …
Saying that we “came to believe” in anything describes a process. Belief is a result of consideration, doubt, reasoning, and concluding.
O IS FOR OPENNESS TO CHANGE
What is the process that leads to solid belief, which leads you to change your life? Let’s look at the first four words in Step 2 again: “We came to believe …”
“We came …”
We took the first step when we attended our first recovery meeting!
“We came to …”
We stopped denying our hurts, hang-ups, and habits!
“We came to believe …”
We started to believe and receive God’s power to help us recover.
When we become willing to change it gives us a sense of HOPE. Sometimes we are afraid to change, even if our past was painful. We resist change because of our fear of the unknown, or, in our despair, we think we don’t deserve anything better.
Here’s the good news: Hope opens doors where despair closes them! Hope discovers what can be done instead of grumbling about what can’t be done. (Live in solution)
Throughout your life you will continue to encounter hurts and trials that you are powerless to change, but with God’s help you can be open to allow those circumstances and situations to change you—to make you better—not bitter.
Ephesians 4:23 gives us a challenge to that end:
Now your attitudes and thoughts must all be constantly changing for the better…. You must be a new and different person.
EPHESIANS 4:23
How will you do that?
Stop (are you doing the same ol thing?)
Reverse (Take a step back)
Neutral (Take a look at the whole situation)
Go (Make a well thought out move based on your re-assessment)
P IS FOR POWER TO CHANGE
In the past, we may have wanted to change and were unable to do so;
we could not free ourselves from our hurts, hang-ups, or habits.
In Principle 2, we understand that God’s power can change us and our situation. Philippians 4:13 (TLB) confirms it:
For I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power.
Power to change comes from God’s grace. You see, hope draws its power from a deep trust in God, like that of the psalmist, who wrote:
Lead me; teach me; for you are the God who gives me salvation. I have no hope except in you.
PSALM 25:5
In Principle 2, we begin to understand that God’s power can change us and our situation. And once we tap into that power, right actions—Christ-like actions—will follow naturally as by-products of working the principles and following the one and only Higher Power, Jesus Christ.
If you are asking God to help you then you need to stay out of his way.
We can’t just keep God in a pocket and pull him out when we feel like we need him!
E IS FOR EXPECT TO CHANGE
The last letter in hope is
E: EXPECT to change.
Remember you are only at the second principle. Don’t quit before the miracle happens! With God’s help, the changes that you have longed for are just steps away.
Philippians 1:6 says
I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns.
You know, you can’t do anything unless you get started,
so how much faith do you need to get started?
Well the Bible says:
For if you had faith even as small as a tiny mustard seed you could say to this mountain, ‘Move!’ and it would go far away. Nothing would be impossible.
MATTHEW 17:20
It’s reassuring to know that you do not need large amounts of faith to begin the recovery process. You need only a small amount, “as small as a tiny mustard seed,” to effect change, to begin to move YOUR mountains of hurts, hang-ups, and habits.
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
HEBREWS 11:1
Yes, all you need is just a little faith. If you will put the faith you have in Jesus, your life will be changed! His Spirit will come with supernatural power into your heart. It can happen to you! It happened to me!
Simply put, my life without Christ is a hopeless end; with Him it is an endless hope.
I ONCE WAS A HOPELESS DOPE ADDICT, NOW I’M A DOPELESS HOPE ADDICT!
Ask yourself these questions:
Do I have a plan in place for my next season?
What if I have a really bad day, then what?
What are your known triggers?
How will you avoid them like the plague?
These are serious quesTions To ask yourself…
- Have some experiences caused me to lose faith in God?
- How can my present relationship with Christ be improved?
- Where can I find hope? How can I find hope?
- What areas of my life am I ready to change?
- What person in my life has a strong faith? How do they demonstrate that
Rachel 