Excerpt #3 from my forthcoming book, Unburdened. Find other excerpts from the book here.
Some may ask what distinguishes those who eventually embrace the path from those who don’t. From God’s view, it’s simply a practical manifestation of his grace towards us. But on a human plane, there were a few key realizations in retrospect that had significant impact.
Surrender. In our brokenness, we thought God was withholding sexual fulfillment from us. We believed Satan’s lies that he was the only one who cared about our sexual thirst. In walking with a few others who’d been down the path ahead of us, we came to realize God for who he is, a loving dad who wants nothing more than for us to grow up into his image. Now, we’re learning to surrender the lies we once believed about ourselves and our sexuality. We’ve slowly redirected our anger away from God, ourselves and those who may have forced our recovery and turned it back toward our real enemy.
Sanctification. We are laying down our old ways of coping. Where we once relied on hiding behind masks (like perfectionism and people pleasing), we understand the path in front of us doesn’t have to be perfect because we’re trusting in the one who’s already finished the journey with perfection. In humility, we understand the path can’t be traveled all at once, but rather only one choice at a time. And that’s ok. There’s great freedom in being responsible only for the next step, knowing that each one results in even more freedom and redemption than the one before. We’ve also realized we don’t have to walk the path alone. Jesus our Rescuer, the Holy Spirit our Comforter and a band of a few close Christian brothers actually want to walk with us every step of the way. This is a big change from the isolation we once experienced as being “just the way it is” in Christian leadership.
Celebration. Yes, we do have the guarantee (what the Bible calls hope) that we’ll ultimately reach the end of the race, where our Coach will embrace us with a bear hug and a “Welcome Home, son!” at the finish line. But we’ve also learned to see and celebrate small victories along the way. The more we take risks to put into practice the principles presented here—and do them while staying intimately connected with our closest relationships—the more we see the practical fruit of redemption at work. We’re not perfect, but redemption is at work in ways that demonstrate we’re being perfected with each next step.
These simple truths weave together the fabric of our narrative.
From Unburdened by Michael Todd Wilson, forthcoming from InterVarsity Press in September 2015. Copyright (c) 2015 by Michael Todd Wilson. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press.
