Relapse: From Broken Stone to Living Promise

   

Dear Reader, 

Have you ever asked why there were two sets of commandments in the Book of Exodus? 

The first were written by God’s own hand—perfect, complete, untouched. 

The second… 
Moses had to carve. 

The difference stays with me. 

Because it feels very much like the journey of relaps in recovery. 

 

There are many in recovery who, like Moses, have broken the first set of promises—the commitment to stay sober. 

Some may even have been given the gift of sobriety without much struggle at first. 

They wanted to be clean and sober… 

Yet, for reasons they could not fully understand, they could not hold onto it. 

I have come to see this as struggling with the first commandment: 
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” 

In this case, that “other god” may be a drink… or a drug. 

 

Relapse has a way of doing that. 

It breaks not just the effort— 
but the belief that we can ever recover. 

And yet, the second set of tablets teaches something powerful: 

God loves us too much to leave us in the breaking. 

 

The original tablets may be shattered… 

Yet with our own chisel, we can begin again—carving a renewed path back to recovery. 

It is as if God says: 

“Bring Me the stone. We will write this again.” 

 

That is recovery. 

What was once given in hope 
is now formed through humility. 

With a softened heart, we begin again— 
often stronger than before. 

 

The second set of tablets required something new: 

• Effort  

• Willingness  

• Service  

And so, we start up the mountain again… 
this time carrying our own stone. 

 

Relapse is not the end of our relationship with a Higher Power. 

It can become the foundation upon which a new life is built— 
one deeper and more meaningful than we imagined. 

 

Because now: 

• You don’t just want sobriety—you work for it  

• You don’t just receive truth—you practice it  

• You don’t just believe—you live differently  

 

There is a quiet strength in the second set of tablets. 

They are not weaker because they require effort. 

They are stronger— 
because they are shaped through experience, humility, and return. 

 

If you are struggling today… if you have fallen again… hear this: 

You are not starting over from nothing. 

You are bringing new stone to the mountain. 

And God still writes. 

 

What was once broken can be written again— 
this time, not just on stone… 
but on the heart.