Human Vessels of Divine Intervention
By: Christina Vaughn, Nurse, Freelance Writer
Tags: Being, Belief, Healing, Addiction, Spirituality

Human Vessels of Divine Intervention

A truth of the origin of AA: How God really feels about the addict and addiction.

Photo by Michel Boulé on Unsplash

He longed to be sober for years but just could not accomplish the feat of sobriety on his own.

Addict: He chases after you, He searches for you, He never leaves your side. He came for YOU. He waits for you. It is for you he died.

The first time I read about Bill and Bob, the founders of the AA recovery process and community, I was struck with absolute awe.

The story of the self-destructive alcohol abuse that raged inside both founding members filled me with such sorrow for them, for their wives and families and for the life they should have had on this earth without addiction.

I have personally been there and remain as a family member suffering alongside the addict.

It wasn’t until I had really let the story sink in,…that I got it. I got what their lives, their suffering and the resulting life-saving program really was all about.

What it meant.

Their stories were the absolute epitome of the meaning of this verse in the Bible:

“As for you, (Satan, any adversary) you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” Genesis 50:20

My heart opened to the understanding of the history, the meaning and the actual purpose of the AA plan and I realized for the first time how much God desires to heal people, how intimately involved He desires to be in our everyday suffering and how much He desires to restore us to absolute health and greatness.

The heart of God toward His creation is NOT as many preachers and Christians proclaim it to be…that of hateful judgementalism and bigotry towards sin and the failings of human nature.

In total contrast to this view of God and His thoughts towards humanity is the reality that God goes to extreme measures to express and offer His love and to rescue human beings…through other human beings; most especially, the desperately hurting and afflicted human beings.

Thus, the story and experience of Bill and Bob led to the entire construction of the AA philosophy and the saving of so many lives and individual sanity worldwide since.

God uses people to heal people.

Those he chooses for the job are historically the most imperfect, vulnerable and desperate human beings, but it seems to recruit those possessing these human conditions yields a fantastic result.

These two men were self-described as some of the worst afflicted by alcohol addiction. Bill describes his addiction as something that totally controlled his life for much longer than he wanted to drink.

He longed to be sober for years but just could not accomplish the feat of sobriety on his own.

The addict feels alienation and shame as primary responses to their addiction, which results in further alienation and shame as these two feelings perpetuate themselves.

However, contrary to what many Christians, preachers and especially the medical community believes, God does not feel sickened or alienated from or by an addict’s addiction and the behaviors accompanying the addiction.

Rather, He feels sickened with sorrow for them. He is not disappointed in them and expectant that they “pull themselves up” to His or any level in order to relate to Him at all. That is an impossible feat.

He understands them and their trials and trauma. He is there when the needle goes in, the pipe touches your lips, the drink goes down smoothly or burns, and when the line snorts up your nose. He waits next to you, offering healing and hope from this…life.

As a Father, He is disgusted with the way addicts are treated and thought of by His own people…the Christians and pastors and churches who extradite this sector of society as “degradants and outcasts.”

In reading the details of the lives of the two founders of the AA philosophy, I was, again and again, amazed at the intricacy of the working of God’s love and grace at work in their addiction and recovery.

One thing that was especially poignant to me in learning the AA story was the reality that although there are positive and successful routes to full recovery, that reality for the addict occurs simply through choice. It is not a simple choice, but simply through choice.

And not one final choice.

Minute by minute, day upon day and year upon year choices are the ones that rebuild an addict’s way of thinking, create safe and healthy ways of healing and dealing with the root causes of addiction and construct a life free of the need to fatally self medicate and soothe.

That truth says so much about the addict’s options and their obsessive, aggressive need to cover their pain and ailments, which is sorrowfully, sometimes the factor that wins out over life-saving recovery.

It also reaffirms a Biblical truth about human nature and God’s intervention into our transformation as humans into our better selves.

Christians know this to be sanctification/redemption. A good word for recovery as well.

Timothy II 2:21

Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

Though the work of cleansing and regeneration is done through the Spirit, you see that man must make a choice.

“Cleansing themselves of the latter” speaks of choosing something better than the latter. Choosing. Something God wants suffering people to have…a choice.

Then He attributes the tools for success in that venture through his most precious creation…us: human beings.

With addiction being so prevalent in this world and the accompanying tragic deaths and loss of family units over substance abuse, it is imperative that we understand God is not distant to this serious problem.

It is imperative that we understand that He longs to heal and involve Himself in our worst problems and tragedies. This is not just for Christians.

No verse in the Bible stated that He healed ONLY the people who claimed Him as Saviour. Healing draws man to Him, so he does not wait for someone to accept Him to hear their cries for help.

I offer you His own words on the subject:

“[F]or I am the Lord who heals you.” — Exodus 15:26

James 5:15

Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. — James 5:15

Jesus said to the woman, “You are now well because of your faith. May God give you peace! You are healed, and you will no longer be in pain.” — Mark 5:34

So Jesus healed many people who were sick with various diseases, and he cast out many demons. But because the demons knew who he was, he did not allow them to speak. — Mark 1:34

Matthew 14:36

They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed. — Matthew 14:36

Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. — Matthew 14:14

“Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death. — Psalm 107:19–20

The Lord nurses them when they are sick and restores them to health. — Psalm 41:3

Jeremiah 30:17

“I will give you back your health and heal your wounds,” says the Lord. — Jeremiah 30:17

Addict, please know you are not unloved. As desperate and alone as you can and do feel, there is a God who is on your side. He has created other people available in your life and in society to help you get out of the “rut” and to leave the “insanity” behind and come to a place of full healing.

Photo by Noah Buscher on Unsplash

The 12 Steps of Recovery are for heroin addicts, meth addicts, alcohol addicts, porn addicts, work addicts, food addicts. Addicts of any and every kind.

His love is for all.

Please consider Bill and Bob’s successful creation of an avenue to sobriety and recovered life that He orchestrated through their pain, addiction, and recovery.

All are welcome here.