Choice #1- Choosing reality & admitting your need

Realize I am not God. I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable.

• I cannot do it all
• I cannot do any of it alone
• I am powerless to control

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death.

John Baker states in Life's Healing Choices that this verse lets us know we cannot trust our human nature to lead us out of our problems. Left on its own our sin nature will tend to do wrong desire to be God and try to play God.

Paul states exactly how I feel in Romans 7:15-17:

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.

Romans 7:21-23

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.

Even David felt it too in Psalms 32:3

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long

The book illustrates this frustration very well on page 19 John Baker writes:

He speaks of the game Wacka Wacka at Chuck E Cheese's, pictured here is a similar game Whac a Mole. You use a big mallet to beat down these little moles that keep popping up. But when you whack one, 3 more pop up. you whack those 5 more pop up. The machine is a parable of life. We whack down one conflict and another pops up. It is frustrating because we cannot get them all knocked down at the same time.
We walk around pretending we are God and have it all under control, but if we were really in control why don't we just unplug the machine!

On Saturday Night Live Chevy Chase would come on and say, " Hi I'm Chevy Chase and you are not." Can you imagine God to say " Hi I am God and you are not." Life's Healing Choices agreeing with God that He is god and we are not leads us into our first healing choice.

Matthew 5:3 Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor.

Admitting your need is what being "spiritually poor is all about.

Psalm 32:4-5 (TLB) My strength evaporated like water on a sunny day until I finally admitted all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them.

Wisdom in Proverbs 28:13 (TEV)

You will never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins. Confess them and Give up; the God will show mercy to you.

We need to be honest & open about our weaknesses, faults and failures. Our problems are cured through admitting our weakness & a having a humble heart.

2 Corinthians 12:10 (MSG) I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become!

The Bible clearly passes the message that in admitting my weakness I will find strength.

• I admit that I am powerless to change my past
• I admit that I am powerless to control other people
• I admit that I am powerless to cope with my harmful habits, behaviors and actions

James 4:6

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble

Having a humble heart:

• What needs changing in your life?
• What hurt hangup, or habit have you been trying to ignore?

Choosing to admit that you cannot do it alone and that you need God is the first & hardest choice.

I have a problem, I need help. I am depressed, I am full of anxiety, hurt, resentment, my anger is out of control, I am codependent and I have a lack of boundaries. God, I am tired of living this way and using the coping strategies that I am currently using. I am without the ability to forgive, let go, and be happy on my own. I am powerless to manage all this and my life on my own.

I am on the road to healing!

Life's healing choices states that admitting my hurts, habits and hang-ups is just the beginning.

To implement this choice and the other 7 choices I need to:

1. Pray about it
2. Write about it
3. Share about it

The above steps is where the change happens. These interactive steps are my pathway to healing.

I am making the choice to complete them!