Chapter 2Trust God 1

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6 I say unto you, if ye have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering towards the children of men; and also, the atonement which has been prepared from the foundation of the world, that thereby salvation might come to him that should put his trust in the Lord, and should be diligent in keeping his commandments, and continue in the faith even unto the end of his life, I mean the life of the mortal bodyI say, that this is the man who receiveth salvation, through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind, which ever were since the fall of Adam, or who are, or who ever shall be, even unto the end of the world. (Mosiah 4 6-7)

One of the most difficult things that I have had to learn is to trust in God, to trust the already established repentance process, and to trust that He had prepared a way for me to overcome my addiction. I had kept my addictions a secret for so long that I did not want to share them. I felt that there was no need to share them with anyone, except for Heavenly Father. I justified that as long as I confessed my sins to God that that was good enough. I could not comprehend why God would want me to confess my sins to another person, especially when I could face church discipline. This was because I did not understand why the process was there. What I came to realize is that Satan had blinded me so that I could not take full advantage of the repentance process. I allowed Satan to convince me so many times to try to overcome the addiction on my own. Satan knows that the power of an addiction is so strong that it usually requires the help of other people. This is why we will be tempted many times to try it on our own, however we need to recognize that we are weaker and more vulnerable to temptations when we are by ourselves. Satan is the master of secrecyhe influences us to hide our sins, mistakes, and weaknesses. When we keep our sins, mistakes, and weaknesses a secret, we cannot take full advantage of the grace of Jesus Christs atonement.

Chapter 2Trust God 2

Why is grace of Jesus Christ so important to us? Grace has the power to raise us up higher than we can reach on our own. This is what we need to overcome weaknesses; to rise up to be more powerful then we possibly can on our own. Satan knows that if we do not humble ourselves and do everything that is required of us to make a complete and full repentance, then we will not qualify for grace. Part of the process for repentance with any addiction is to make a complete and full confession. This means confessing to God, to Gods ordained servant (a bishop or branch president depending on the severity of the addiction), and to those who have been affected by our decisions. I know I did not think much about the effects of my addiction on my wife and familywe tend to convince ourselves that our decisions only affect us, but in actuality they affect everyone we love too. In the beginning, when thinking about confessing my sins I would conclude that the only reason for it was to embarrass me and to make me feel so bad that I would not want to go through it again. Yes, it may seem difficult to confess our sins and we do feel guilt, which can be an influencing factor in avoiding sin in the future, but that is not why we need to confess our sins. Confessing is an outward act that demonstrates humility and willingness to change. Before Jesus appeared to the Nephites, during the three days of darkness, he spoke to the people concerning the offering of sacrifices: And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings. And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost. 3 Nephi 9:19-20. Today we no longer sacrifice animals, but the sacrifice that we are required to offer up is a broken heart and a contrite spirita heart and spirit that is willing to change, willing to do

Chapter 2Trust God 3

anything that God would require us to do. When we willingly submit to the process of repentance, it shows, in part, this broken heart and contrite spirit. This also means making a complete confession and not hiding the details of our addictions. Remember that Satan wants us to hide things from God, ironically though God already knows everything that we have done, but he requires a broken heart and a contrite spirit in order to receive the promised blessings. Part of having a broken heart and a contrite spirit means that we are willing to accept any church discipline that is inspired by our church leaders. I hate that it is referred to as discipline; because its purpose is not to punish us for doing something wrong; its purpose is not to punish us for confessing and telling the truth, but this is how many people view it. I have known several people who received church discipline and were offended, stopped trying, and became bitter toward the church. I wished they could see it as something other than a punishment. Its purpose is to help us find a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Many have been desensitized by their addiction that it is difficult to have a broken heart and a contrite sprit for something that does not seem that bad. Do not be offended or angry if this happens, instead go through the process and try to develop this broken heart and contrite spirit. Be willing to accept any discipline that our leaders are inspired to make in order to help us. For anyone reading this book who this has happened to in the past, I urge you to come back and finish the process of repentanceGod still loves you and stands with open arms to receive anyone who will come unto him. Every time we meet with our bishop or branch president, we need to be completely open and honest about the difficulties we are experiencing or mistakes that we have made. Doing so will help us qualify for the cleansing power of the atonement and the grace of Jesus Christ. Qualifying for the grace of Jesus Christ will allow us to do more than we can do on our own, and will make the temptations easier to bear. Temptations will still come, as they always will, and

Chapter 2Trust God 4

we will probably still make mistakes, but they will become easier to resist over time. Eventually, the burning desire inside us to indulge in our addictions will diminish and our desires will change. We must keep trying even when we make mistakes. We need to continue to get up every time we make a mistake, try again, and continue to press forward. Repentance is like climbing a mountain, which can seem like a difficult task with obstacles, detours, and danger. Some people mistakenly think that while we are trying to repent (climbing the mountain), that if we make a mistake and sin again that we have to start at the bottom of the mountain again. Thankfully, this is not the case. We may fall down and stumble back a little bit, but as long as we pick ourselves up, repent and try again, we can continue on our journey until we reach the top. The only time that we have to start over is when we have completely given up on repentance and hid our sins. In this case it would be like running down the face of the mountain. If we are diligent and persistent, eventually we will reach the top. We should also confess those who were injured by our addiction. This could be a family member, friend, or even a complete stranger. Again, this is not to embarrass us or to try to make our lives more difficult, but is again to qualify us for the blessings of the atonement. Doing this can be difficult, and may initially hurt our loved ones especially if they do not already know about our addiction. Family can provide additional support to us through their hope, prayers, and faith. Back to the analogy about the repentance mountain that we are trying to climb, it is impossible to reach the top on our own. It requires our very best effort, and we can receive help along the way from our priesthood leader and loved ones who can help us get near the top, only to find that at the top of the mountain is a sheer cliff of impossible magnitude to climb. It would be impossible if it were not for the Grace that comes from Jesus Christs atonement. He

Chapter 2Trust God 5

effectually throws a rope down to us, one which we must climb (continue to do our very best) and which at the same time the Savior is pulling up. We cannot overcome an addiction without the Grace of Jesus Christ. Making a complete and full confession qualifies us for the blessings of our Saviors atonement, his Grace, his cleansing blood, which will help us to fight our addictions and temptations. When we are dishonest or choose not follow the repentance pattern which God established then we cannot qualify for the grace of Jesus Christ, and then the cliff at the end of our journey is impossible to climb. For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and become a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father. (Mosiah 3:19)

We cannot do it alone, we need to trust God and the process that he has already established, be willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [us], and realize that the way he has prepared for us to [put] off the natural man and to break free from addiction (Mosiah 3:19).

Chapter 2 Summary Trust in God and the process established for us to repent. Church leaders, family, and friends can support us through their faith, hope, and prayers. The sacrifice that is asked of us is a broken heart and a contrite spirit, which can help us qualify for the Grace of Jesus Christ.

Chapter 2Trust God 6

The Grace of Jesus Christ requires that we try our best and be humble enough to ask for helpGrace will make up the difference where we fall short.

Recognize that we will continue to make mistakes and fall short of perfection. Do not give into the temptation of giving up when we make mistakes.

God loves us and will always be willing to forgive and help us.

Chapter 2 Assignments If we have not already, begin the repentance process and seek the help of church leaders, family, and friends.