As  you rebuild your life through your recovery program, you’ll want to be sure that you are building on a solid foundation, one that supports you no matter hat lies ahead.

Please read the information on these pages carefully. It will show you how to build a permanent foundation, one that will not crumble.

We tend to orbit around certain people or things in our lives. They are the relationships, circumstances, and possessions we value most.

Here are some examples: Husband, Wife, Job, Children, Finances, Parents, Friends

Now, take a minute and list on a piece of paper the thing or things at the center of your life. It may be one thing or a combinations of items.

In our solar system, planets have a predictable orbit because the sun is a stable gravitational center. Imagine what would happen to those planets if the sun suddenly disappeared.

Now look at your list comprising those things at the center of your life. Which of those are permanent (cannot disappear or be lost)?

Most things in our life can disappear. A husband or wife can leave the marriage. Our financial conditions can change suddenly. A parent can die. Our health can deteriorate. When these things happen, our orbit will disappear as well, sending us into an emotional tumble.

In the end, only one thing is permanent. Our relationship with God, if we have one, cannot be taken away. Because this relationship with God is so critical to our stability, it’s important to know for sure that we have the kind of relationship with Him that will ensure that He is permanently in the center of our lives.

How do we put God at the center of our lives? The first step is to remove a major barrier between you and Him.

The Bible says that the things we’ve done wrong, the sin in our lives, comes between us and God. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). It also says that the effect of our sin is death (separation from God forever).

Our sin keeps us from God. Many of us try to earn a relationship with Him by “being a good person” and “doing good things.” But notice in the verse above, eternal life (God forever in the center of our lives) is a gift.

In fact, another verse in the Bible says we cannot earn or work our way into a relationship with God: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not of works, so that no one can boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9

If we can’t overcome sin and earn a relationship with God, how can we put Him in the center of our lives?

The Bible says that Jesus Christ removed the barrier between us and God by dying in our place. He paid the price for the things we’ve done wrong. Romans 5:8 puts it this way, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

It’s also important to realize that Jesus Christ is the only way to a relationship with God. John 14:6 reads, “Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Maybe right now you ache for the stability, security, and wholeness that comes by having God in the center of your life? Once He’s there, you can access His power to help you to heal from any and all your issues, hurts, compulsions, and addictions. He can and will stabilize your life’s orbit.