What is "Recovery"?

Recovery is a colloquial term many people are familiar hearing in our culture in relation to certain mental health and spiritual issues, such as addiction, but very few actually understand the full meaning or concept of the term. In many ways, using the word has come to incorporate a negative connotation that many wish to avoid. However, "recovery" is simply a term that describes the process of returning back to a normal state of health, mind, or strength. It includes the idea of regaining possession or control of something stolen or lost. Those who have endured a difficult or traumatic experience, sustained painful family wounds, or are crippled with unexplainable anxiety, know that in any of these situations much is lost or stolen from them.

"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. For in just a very little while, 'He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.' But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith to the persevering of the soul."
Hebrews 10:35-39

But as with any adversity, as one returns from this place of grief, they inevitably return having gained more than they originally lost. Facing the challenges, the pain, the discomfort is what allows a person to grow - to grow up, to grow relationally, and to grow in Christ. They will see themselves more accurately, love more deeply, and live life more abundantly, than those who choose to shrink back from the hard task of recovery. This is because, for those of us with these deep emotional wounds that need healing, recovery is an aspect of our sanctification. As the Lord heals these broken places, He sanctifies us to look and act more like Christ. This ongoing process of sanctification is the duty of every Christian, no matter where Providence may have placed us on this earth. Don't let past pain or current sorrow stand in your way of meeting with Christ in these broken places. He is waiting for you there.