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christian counseling today
Vol. 20 no. 4
Higher Power
The most common reason both clients and
counselors are resistant to 12-step recovery is the
issue of God being referred to merely as a higher
power rather than the God of the universe.
Understanding what addiction does to the
spiritual dimension of an addict can result in a
better orientation as to why this is necessary for
helping as many people as possible. Addiction is
often a spiritual killer. It results in shameful and
guilt-ridden behavior that separates the addict
from God. The eventual dependency becomes
the highest controlling element of the addict’s
life and, if not abated, strips him or her of every-
thing, including thoughts about God. Usually
He gets the blame for everything, including the
addiction.
It is likely that an addict has asked God to
take away his or her addictive urges countless
times, while also expressing deep desires to be
healed and set free from the torment. Rather
than viewing the petition as asking God to do
something so they would not have to, addicts
believe they are surrendering the problem to
God. However, God never honors their so-called
“surrender.” What is not understood is that
addicts must surrender to the processes required
to experience freedom from their addictions. It is
one thing for an addict to lift up his or her hands
and ask God to take the addiction away, and it
is something entirely different and magnificent
when the hands that go up to God are placed
on a steering wheel to drive to see a counselor or
attend a support group meeting. True surrender
requires action. If an addict is unwilling to do
this, he or she may develop a deeper anger and
resentment toward God and even question His
very existence.
Therefore, addicts come into the process of
recovery with misperceptions and some very big
hang-ups pertaining to God. They may not want
any part of a God who will not enable them the
way others have with a simple request. So rather
than addicts being able to complain that 12-step
work is nothing but God talk, the term “higher
power” helps them stay engaged. This is because
they are allowed to say anything can be more
powerful, and a higher power, due to the reality
that they are feeling far away and detached from
the real and true God. Higher power is not the
destination… it is a starting point for some who
would not initiate or remain in recovery if it
