We try harder and harder to change. But sometimes the harder we try, the tighter the chains become. Recovery begins when we recognize that our bondage is too great for us. None of our powers will break these chains. Either we will find a power greater than our ourselves to help us, or we will stay in bondage.
Many people find the idea of powerlessness to be very troubling.
We want to be competent and self-reliant. And, many of us have had people attempt to 'rescue' us in ways that have increased our shame and self-contempt. First, notice in this text that God's intervention is in response to a request. We do not serve a codependent God. He is not entangled in our compulsions.