200. What's the Next Step?200. What's the Next Step?
Hope in Recovery
Andy Petry reflects on how Hebrews 12 shapes a Christ-centred view of recovery, stressing community, honesty and perseverance. He contrasts surface behaviours with deeper hurts and encourages people to fix their eyes on Jesus as they take their next step towards healing.
26:46•1 Sept 2026
Running the Race of Recovery Together with Jesus
Episode Overview
- Recovery is a "group project"; isolation makes addiction and struggle worse.
- Healing requires naming both visible sins and the deeper weights and hurts beneath them.
- Stopping behaviours alone is not enough; those behaviours often function as unhealthy solutions to deeper problems.
- Honesty and vulnerability are meant to lead to recovery by bringing struggles to Jesus and trusted people.
- True and lasting freedom in recovery is found by fixing your eyes on Jesus and persevering with others beside you.
“"Healing isn't found in isolation. It's found in community."”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation on *Hope in Recovery* follows Andy Petry as he wrestles openly with what the "next step" in healing can look like, especially for those feeling stuck. Speaking as "a grateful believer in Jesus" who wrestles with depression, food issues, sexual addiction, alcohol, and grief, Andy shares very honestly about his own struggles and how Celebrate Recovery has helped him move from hurting towards healing.
Using Hebrews Chapter 12 as his guide, Andy breaks down the image of running a race with Jesus. He reminds you that recovery is a "group project", insisting that "healing isn't found in isolation. It's found in community." You'll hear how his pornography addiction grew in secrecy and aloneness, and how bringing others into the struggle became a crucial turning point.
Andy explains the difference between "the sin that so easily entangles" and "everything that hinders"—the behaviours above the surface versus the deeper hurts and beliefs driving them. He notes that "my pornography addiction was not the problem. My pornography addiction was my solution to my problem," challenging the idea that simply stopping visible behaviours is enough. Instead, he urges people to name their pain, because "pain that is left unaddressed is going to be left unhealed.
And unhealed pain, it will get infected." Grounded in Christ-centred recovery, Andy keeps bringing the focus back to Jesus as the goal: "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith." He ties this to Jesus' invitation in Matthew 11 to find rest for weary souls, stressing that true and lasting freedom is found only in him.
If you're wondering whether you're doing recovery alone, hiding your struggles, or losing sight of your "why", this episode gently but clearly asks you to rethink your next step and consider running the race with Jesus and a supportive community at your side. What small step could you take today towards honesty, connection and hope?
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