Joel M Bradshaw

6There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!” 7You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.–Psalm 4

David pictures some party goers grumbling about God. They were most likely many cups of wine into the evening. I journey with many men and women in Celebrate Recovery. Each of them has a rock-bottom story with a hurt, habit, or a hangup. Every single one can point to a moment when they pursued something to bring them happiness. For most of them that something turned into an addiction. Addicts cycle between loving ourselves and hating ourselves. What fuels this cycle are the excuses and rationalizations that we make. Here David gives us a key distinction about the pursuit of happiness.

OUTSIDE-IN. This person looks for a substance to put into their bodies. They long for the opinion of other people. They tell themselves they need the security of a relationship. They compromise to pursue pleasure. They just want peace or comfort or any other thing and so they add something to their life. Some go in the other direction and pursue those things by hating themselves and hurting themselves or others. The point is that something or someone outside of yourself is the the pursuit.

INSIDE-OUT. At Celebrate Recovery we acknowledge and submit to Jesus Christ as our Higher Power. He alone provides forgiveness for our messy pasts and broken presents. He alone gives us hope for our futures. Jesus is not something or someone you simply add to your life. He transforms you from the inside. To follow Jesus you deny the self rather than pursuing the self. You face your deepest wants and instead pursue what Jesus wants. Every part of our lives is changed because every part of our lives have been stained by our selfish, sinful choices. Jesus renews our thoughts and those influence feelings, motivations, attitudes, words, and actions.

David didn’t see drunken feasting as providing the joy he craved. He saw how God had changed his heart and put that above the result of others putting alcohol in their bodies. True biblical change is an inside-out change. True meaning and joy in life comes from God first changing the inner you and then watching the results flow to the outer you. I’ve seen it happen in my own addiction story, as well.–JMB