Latest / Sober Readings / A.A. Regeneration
Transcript
- Scott Hayes: Welcome to Sober Readings. Today is Friday, the nineteenth of June. Let's begin today with the Serenity Prayer. God, grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Today's reading from Daily Reflections AA Regeneration Such is the paradox of AA regeneration, strength arising out of complete defeat and weakness, the loss of one's old life as a condition for finding a new one. And that's on page 46 of AA Comes of Age. A thousand beatings by John Barleycorn did not encourage me to admit defeat. I believed it was my moral obligation to conquer my enemy friend. At my first AA meeting, I was blessed with a feeling that it was alright to admit defeat to a disease which had nothing to do with my moral fiber. I knew instinctively that I was in the presence of a great love when I entered the doors of AA. With no effort on my part, I became aware That to love myself was good and right as God had intended. My feelings set me free, where my thoughts had held me in bondage. I am grateful. Today's reading from twenty four hours, june nineteenth, AA Thought for the Day. We have this choice every day of our lives. We can take the path that leads to insanity and death. And remember, our next drunk could be our last one. Or we can take the path that leads to a reasonably happy and useful life. The choice is ours each day of our lives. God grant that we take the right path. So ask yourself today, have I made my choice today? The meditation for the day. Your real work in life is to grow spiritually. To do this, you must follow the path of diligently seeking good. The hidden spiritual wonders are revealed to those who diligently seek this treasure. From one point to the next, you have to follow the way of obedience to God's will until finally you reach greater and greater spiritual heights. Work on the material plane should be secondary to your real life's work. The material things which you need most are those which help you to attain the spiritual. In today's prayer for the day, I pray that I may keep growing spiritually. I pray that I may make this my real life's work. Today's Daily Meditation from Touchstones. Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it. Helen Keller. When a man looks at his life and at the lives of others, it is clear that pain is part of life. We cannot escape this tragic truth. Our growth and our wholeness must include it because our recovery stresses honesty. In our old way of living, we may have been bitter. Many of us felt sorry for ourselves. Some of us cursed God and wasted time in our self-centeredness, thinking life was especially unfair to us. Life is not fair, it just is. It is left to us to choose how we will respond. People's responses to life inspire us. We not only acknowledge the pain, but we see the heroic lives of others around us. They met their limitations and went forward with a willing spirit and faith. Today we can be grateful for the progress we have made in overcoming our suffering. We have friends who give us the joy of human contact. We have choices and possibilities where we never saw them before. We have a growing self respect as men and women. I accept the reality of life, and I will respond with faith in the choices I make today. And for today's final reading, I'm gonna read a message that was sent to me by a friend in the program, and I believe this was actually a post on Instagram, and it's public, so I don't think there's any kind of copyright infringement going on here. I did not write this. I actually don't know who wrote this, and even if I did, I probably wouldn't say it on the air. ⁓ so I could just see the profile picture. So if you know who wrote it after I read it, give them ⁓ give them credit for it. I came across Jeremiah 29, 11 today. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. And can I tell you what I finally understood? Just because your life doesn't look the way you thought it would right now does not mean God has abandoned his plan for you. Some of y'all are crying over doors God intentionally closed. Some of y'all are losing sleep over people God intentionally removed. Some of y'all are questioning your worth because something didn't work out the way you wanted it to. But God never asked you to understand everything. He asked you to trust Him. See, we get frustrated because we only see what's in front of us. God sees the whole picture. You see a rejection. God sees protection. You see a delay. God sees preparation. You see an ending. God sees a new beginning. The enemy wants you to believe that because it didn't happen when you wanted it to, it isn't going to happen at all. That's a lie. God has not forgotten your prayers. God has not overlooked your tears. God has not changed his mind about you. If he made you a promise, he is still able to bring it to pass. Stop talking yourself out of what God already spoke over your life. Stop letting fear preach louder than your faith. And stop treating a temporary situation like it's a permanent destination. God is still writing your story, and what He has for you is bigger than anything you've lost trying to get there. That's such a great post and I wanted to share it with you because it really hits home for me. Because sometimes I can Be all about instant gratification. You know, patience and faith are what I pray for each day, and I think that's what I get from this post. If I can get out of my own way, God has a much better path for me to walk. And I'll close today with a line that my friend Vince used to say all the time, because it is really relevant to this reading. If I got what I thought I wanted, I would have been selling myself way short. And so that's the end of today's episode of Sober Readings. Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed the show, please do me a huge favor. Like always, hit that like button and share this episode with someone you think might need it or like it. And if you'd like to be a guest reader on the show, I would love to have you. Just send me an email at soberreadings with Scott at gmail.com, and we can certainly make that happen. If you'd like to drop a dollar in today's virtual donation basket, just go to my website, soberreadings.com. and click the donate button. So again, thank you so much for listening today. Stay sober, keep reading, and I'll catch you in the next episode. Until then, take care of yourselves and each other, and remember just for today, don't drink, go to a meeting, and keep coming back. Have a great day, and as my friend Larry says, best day ever.