What happens when those irrational beliefs work their way back into our thoughts and emotions? Uh Oh… Ambivalence—a fancy word for our resistance to what God wants to do, can do, and will do, if we allow Him to freely move on and in our life to do what needs to be done for effective and productive recovery. The Apostle Paul in Scripture informs us that we are free from the power of sin (Romans 6). He writes too that he has learned the secret of being content (Philippians 4). Then, he turns around and declares that he is miserable under the control of sin (Romans 7).
What gives?
One minute Paul has learned the secret of being free and content and the next he’s discovered that he’s enslaved and miserably discontent. This problem of MEdom describes profoundly the human condition that defines our experience. Even when it seems we are content, we wrestle with the urge to satisfy unhealthy cravings. We are under the control of our self-centered ways of thinking and behaving; and, we can experience freedom from our ongoing and deepening dissatisfaction.
What is very real is the sense of loss we experience when we’re effective in our letting go. As we choose to submit to recovery God’s way, living according to His plan of blessing for us, it can be especially difficult to resist what we have believed we’ve needed to experience contentment. The draw of our irrational belief system can be painful. The loss of what we have believed for so long was precious and of primary importance, will leave us in mourning, grieving for that which we have lost. This ambivalence can jeapordize the sincerest attempt at honest recovery. We still need relief from the stress, both the original stress before recovery, and now the added stress (growing pains) while in recovery.
NLX 101 allows for participants to measure their ambivalence, or resistance to active recovery through exercises that gauge the benefits and gains against the consequences and risk of loss pursuing mechanisms for desires (perceived as needs) that seemingly lead to satisfaction, along with remedies that relieve dissatisfaction, their own way and in their own strength. Then they will explore the benefits and gains of recovery God’s way, measuring them against the consequences and risk of loss committed to recovery God’s way, according to the model lived out by Jesus. Once the scores are tallied, the results are quite revealing about their ambivalence. They come to understand quite sensibly why Paul felt conflicted about being free on the one hand, while fighting the threat of oppression from the addiction to sin in his life.