Alma 32:37 "...if ye nourish it with much care, it will get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit."Addicts must eventually come to the realization that they are powerless over their addictions. Unfortunately, this realization often is accompanied by a feeling of hopelessness – that either God was too disappointed to help or that all avenues of help had been exhausted.
The key principle of Step 2 – Hope is to “come to believe that the power of God can restore you to complete spiritual health.” Those suffering from addiction must be presented with an answer that they never considered or have discarded – turn to God and find hope in the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
In Alma Chapter 32, Alma teaches us that to begin to have hope, or to exercise faith, we need only have a sincere desire and believe enough to give place to the word. He uses “word” to mean the word of God or the beauty of His gospel of redemption and atonement and compares the word to a seed. We are all God’s children, regardless of our circumstances. His light illuminates every soul. His spirit invites all to come unto Him and enjoy the blessings of the gospel. As the word of God takes root in an addict’s heart, it can begin to grow until it fills that heart with redemptive love.
In answering the questions of the people concerning what to do because they were “afflicted and cast out”, Alma comforted them with these words:
“But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.” Alma 32:27
Just as a seed takes time to swell, sprout and emerges as a living plant, we must have patience and allow the word of God to grow in our heart and nourish its progress through faith and prayer. We must be sure our heart is right, humble and filled with hope in the atonement of Christ, so that we can nurture the word.
It is my testimony that recovery from addiction or overcoming difficulties in our lives must begin simply with planting a seed of hope, exercising “a particle of faith.” That seed of hope can be planted in the heart of the addict through a kind word or deed, beautiful, uplifting music, a passage of scripture, an expression of love and support, and the bearing of our testimony in a loving, forgiving Savior who suffered all that we might be forgiven of our sins and redeemed from our weaknesses and addictions.
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