My Sister and I Rebelled Against AA Part II

So, my sister and I were couped up for nine months, taken away from our father, put through a very legalistic atmosphere in which we were forced to pray about just about everything.

For the first time in my life, I lived in a lot of fear, so worried was I about making God mad or doing something wrong.

My mother would push us through Bible studies and AA meetings both. Such a mixed message, and I was such a young believer then, that in many ways I just went along with whatever my mother told me.

Sometimes my mother would pit my sister against me, other times she would pit me against my sister. I never felt safe in that house, convinced that I would do something wrong, and thus I would invite upon myself all the wrath of "the Mom".

I did not know what to do in those days. For the first time, I was worried about something bad happening to me, I was worried about failing, that at any moment my mother would run up into my room and yell at me for something that I did or did not do.

Of course, I was never going to be good enough, and this is the sad case for every person in the Body of Christ  who refused to rest in the Finished Work of Jesus Christ, who are trying to live out the Life that only He can live in us!

I am not angry at her anymore, I understand what she was trying to do -- and in large part it was due to trying to live out the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous, failing to rightly divide the word that the curses in the Old Testament have been exhausted on Jesus Christ, and He has called us to rest in Him and receive His righteous standing now and for ever!

AA does not let anyone rest -- the program demands "action, and still more action" because all that an alcoholic has is a "daily reprieve". In Christ, we have eternal rest and assurance of our salvation.

My sister and I made the most of a terrible upbringing, trying to get by as best as we could. The stakes were drawn very tight for us, though. When one parent so controls what you do and think, it can be very difficult to break away.

Without a doubt, I went through a terrible ordeal so that we could learn and grow closer to God, whom I know better through His Son Jesus Christ. I know and believe that my experiences will help many others who have suffered in their journey to know the Truth, that He only sets us free.