Recovery Stories

On Easter Day, April 11, 1982, he walked into the church of his childhood. He had had a rough night the night before with cocaine and other drugs. He promised his wife he would take her to church on Easter. He was physically sick and spiritually bankrupt. He could barely stay awake during the service, so needless to say, he didn't hear much.

But, the word of God penetrated his heart, even though he didn't consciously hear a word. He drank and used the next day, but Tuesday, April 13, 1982, is his sobriety date and he has been clean and sober since that time. He stated, "I am free, free at last!"

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He was the product of a dysfunctional family and he developed a survival mode. He did whatever he could to escape or deny the pain. Later, he became a professional at this by taking alcohol to numb the pain, speed when he wanted to work long hours, and marijuana when he wanted to escape the stresses of life and church and when he wanted to put on a mask and cover up all the junk inside. After he tried for years by his own power to change and couldn’t, he gave up. He left his wife and son and moved away intending to just give into these personnel demons that were haunting him. Alone and broken he came to the end of himself. He cried out to his Savior with a humble and broken spirit and his life was radically changed. That day was the best day of his life! He turned his will and his life over to the care of Christ and chooses daily to surrender his will. His marriage has been restored and he has been blessed beyond belief.

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A young man came to our church’s clinic, The Ministries of Jesus, looking for healing from drug, alcohol and mental disorders. He met with a Christian doctor who prayed with him and connected him to the Recovery Pastor. The Recovery Pastor spent time with him and convinced him that he could trust him and that the church was a safe place. He listened, but took matters in his own hands and proceeded to go on a binge that ended with an attempt to take his own life.

Lying in a hospital bed, coming in and out of consciousness, he awoke to the Recovery Pastors hand and voice. As the broken 25 year old lay on the hospital bed, strapped in with restraints, the Recovery Pastor said, “Well, you ready to quit yet? Have you hit bottom?” He said, “Yes” and the pastor said, “Welcome Home”.

After a lock down facility and detox center, the young man is currently in a work/treatment facility and is celebrating monthly birthday’s one at a time. As he continues to sober up, the counselors are dealing with his mental disorder, through mediciation and prayer. Excited about coming home, he has asked Christ into his life and wants the recovery pastor to baptize him soon!

He had a dysfunctional childhood which led him to develop a self-sufficient survival mode. He became his own doctor, taking alcohol to numb the pain, marijuana to escape, diet pills to stay awake, and church to hide his double life. He tried for years with all his self-sufficiency and will power to stop but couldn't.

Broken and at the end of his rope he just looked toward heaven with a humble and repentant heart and cried out to Christ. All those days of running were over in an instant. He surrendered his life and will over to the care Christ. His life and his marriage have since been radically transformed.

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Imagine a wife with a husband of fifteen plus years who has a meth addiction. Her flesh wanted out of the marriage and the world agreed. In her spirit, she heard a still, small voice whispering the words "trust me". Despite her circumstances, she kept doing the things God had instructed her to do. She would like to tell you it was an instant healing; however, it was through many prayers and embracing scripture like Matthew 7:7 (Ask and keep on asking) that she was healed.

Slowly, God changed her husband. and she witnessed a miracle! Her husband has been drug free and living faithfully for Christ now over five years.

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I grew up in a so called Christian home, it was a broken home in which my mother regularly took me to church, however neither my father or step father were Christian influences. I genuinely desired to grow in Christ and so I thought the obvious progression was to surrender to the ministry, specifically the youth ministry. During this time of my teen years I had a string of relationships that involved sexual sin. This eventually ended in pregnancy out of wedlock with my wife. Due to a series of events and hurt relationships, there began a separation between my Christian walk and the Body of Christ (the Church). I still believed in Christ but I didn’t believe that His church would accept ME nor could it help my problem. I also believed that my sexual sin and “acting out” would end when I was married. Instead I brought my baggage of sexual sin into our marriage relationship. This eventually led to an emotional affair, costing me my job. This cost wasn’t enough however to get me to stop the insanity.

Bottom for me was my wife discovering my secret life of pornography and my sexually acting out. I had no idea where to go or what to do, my marriage was falling apart, I saw my marriage going the same route as my parents marriage. I was powerless to stop this spiraling down and I turned to the church for help. I soon found myself in a process of recovery for sexual addiction. It included a strict accountability relationship, community or what we referred to as LIFE groups, Biblically Based Christian Recovery, and most important an acceptance of who I was (not what I did) by the body of Christ. Through recovery and the twelve steps it has been revealed that I battle with more than just a sex addiction. I’m recovering from a love addiction, from being a workaholic, a sports addict, and from codependency, I’m being restored from the root of pride and selfishness, I am in the process of being transformed into a new creation, a man of integrity. My wife said something to me I will never forget, I was expressing to her how much I hated this addiction and the work that it requires. Her response was that she was glad, because this process of restoration has brought me closer to God and has grown our marriage far beyond what we could have done ourselves. I am now dependent on God, not my addiction. He is my crutch moment by moment as “I accept hardship as a pathway to peace”.

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For More Information Contact:
Ministries of Jesus Office | 405.340.7400
Chuck Robinson, Director of Recovery