I was sitting in an AA meeting this morning.  The topic of discussion was faith.  Some people in the meeting were sharing about how their faith in god or whatever their higher power may be saved them from the get go.  I started to think about when I started to have faith and if that is what saved me and stopped me from drinking and abusing drugs.  It wasn’t.  As I worked through the steps I eventually became to believe in a higher power but initially that is not who I found faith in.

Entering drug rehab all I wanted was to stop abusing drugs and alcohol.  I didn’t care about a higher power, I didn’t care about the steps.  I just wanted to stop the lifestyle that was killing me.  I started to find faith in drug rehab.  My faith lied in the therapist that I worked with and the other men that I was in addiction treatment with.  I started to believe as I became abstinent from drugs one day at a time that if I continued to take the direction of my therapist then I could stay sober one more day.  God was the furthest thing from my mind.  I would wake up in the morning and would ask my therapist what I had to do in order to not use drugs or alcohol that day.  My faith was in the therapist and other men in my treatment center.

Of course as time went on and I began to work the steps and I eventually started to have faith in a higher power.  I think that it is important for people who are beginning their journey in recovery to not yearn for too much to soon.  Take your time.  Put your faith in treatment first and listen to the individuals that are directing your recovery.  Take the process of recovering from drugs and alcohol one step at a time.  The first step is to listen to the professionals that work at the treatment centers.  It worked for me so it can work for you.