Episode 3: Rooted & Recovered - Letting God Take the Wheel

What if your breakthrough depends on your willingness to give up control?

In this raw and powerful episode of Rooted & Recovered, Dan and Justin unpack Step Three of the 12-Step Program: “We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God.”

This episode will hit home for anyone who’s tired of trying to fix themselves, who feels worn out from pretending to let go, and who’s desperate for real peace. Dan and Justin bring scripture, personal stories, and deep spiritual truth to life as they challenge listeners to stop driving from the passenger seat and surrender—truly surrender—to the One who never fails.

 Key Highlights:

• Surrender isn’t weakness—it’s where true strength begins
• Proverbs 14:12 warns us about the trap of our way
• Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (“Not my will, but Yours”) is the ultimate model of surrender
• You weren’t meant to carry what Jesus already surrendered for
• Peace isn’t found in control—it’s found in trust

Scriptures Covered: Proverbs 14:12, Matthew 16:24–25, Luke 22 (Gethsemane), Proverbs 3:5–6, Matthew 11:28–30

 Final Truth:
Surrender isn’t the end of your story—it’s the beginning of your healing. The same God who strengthened Jesus in the garden is with you right now in your Gethsemane moment.

Please like, share, and pray for this episode to reach the right hearts. Recovery isn’t about perfection—it’s about progress, and surrender is the step that changes everything.

Transcript

0:00

This world doesn't hand out healing. It offers quick fixes, cheap highes and empty promises, but real recovery. It takes roots. Roots that dig deep into truth, into identity, into the unshakeable grace of God. We're not here to sugarcoat the struggle. We've lived it. Addiction, shame, relapse, regret, but we've also seen resurrection. We've seen what happened. Happens when broken people get anchored in something real rooted and recovered is more than a podcast. It's a battleground for the soul. A place where scars tell stories, where scripture speaks louder than shame, where freedom isn't just a word. It's a war we win daily. So if you're tired of surface level answers, if you want truth that convicts, hope that heals, and conversations that cut through the noise, you're in the right place. Welcome to Rooted and Recovered.

Dan: 1:07

So I'm gonna start this podcast off with a, just a raw question. Justin, what if your breakthrough depends on your willingness to give up control? And you might be asking, why would I bring a question up like that at the very start of a podcast, and it's. Justin is what we're gonna be talking about today, man, with step three, it tells us that we've made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God. We, you, me, the individual listening to this podcast, Justin, at some point, in order for us to get to that next level, we are gonna have to make a decision. That we are gonna have to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God. So I go back to the question that I opened this podcast with. What if your breakthrough depends on your willingness to give up control? And that's a cold statement, bro, but it's the truth

Justin: 2:20

and I believe it's a truth that so many people fail to recognize in their own life. And I've got another question for you, Dan. Have you actually let something go or are you just pretending to let it go? Because just like you were talking about, our breakthrough is dependent on our willingness to surrender control to God. But how many of us like to go to the altar on Sundays and pretend we gave it to God, but just stand up and just take everything right back with us, right? These are real, raw, honest questions that I believe we all should ask ourselves, not once, not twice daily. And

Dan: 2:58

That's the key thing right there. Justin. You just said daily because the problem with, when we say nasty words, Justin, like surrender. That's a nasty word to society. Surrender. Oh, that means I'm weak. That means I'm a failure. That means I'm showing defeat. And I'm here to encourage you today, and I'm here to debunk that lie from the enemy family. Surrender isn't weakness. It's the most courageous thing you'll ever do to be able to say, I don't want this no more. I give up. It's at that moment right there that real change happens, Justin, because we've came to realize, we've done the step one, we've done step two, we're now at step three where we realize that if we are gonna go to step four and to 12 and beyond, then I'm gonna have to give something up. And that's. My will. That's my control. That's me wanting to be the driver's seat of life. And the problem is, Justin, is God can't take you where he's called you if you're still

Justin: 4:18

clinging to the will. You're exactly right. Who's in the driver's seat? There's this bumper sticker in the day, back in the day that used to say, God is my copilot. Why isn't God your pilot? Imagine that you're on a bus driving through the woods and there's trees all over. You're blindfolded. You can't see where you're going and you're just guaranteed to wreck. Do you trust yourself to do that, or do you trust the one who put those trees? Out in that field. Do you trust the one who created that bus you're driving? Do you trust the one who holds the universe in his hands and holds it all together to take that wheel and steer you? It doesn't mean that it might not seem bumpy at times. It doesn't mean you might not be looking over the edge wondering where God's taking you. There is a freedom, like you talked about in surrender. There is a peace in being in that passenger seat and just trusting God because like you said, Dan, if you want to get to step four, you can't drive yourself there. You gotta let him drive

Dan: 5:25

well. There's a struggle, Justin, to surrender and it's okay, because I was there at one time, guys. Justin was there and if you know somebody who's got years of recovery under their belt, they've been there to, there is a struggle to surrender because we gotta look at it deeper than what it is, Justin, because now you're talking about me. I'm talking about you. Your will, your desire, your ability to want to be in control. But see family, that's where addiction thrives. It thrives in control. It thrives in secrecy. It thrives in self-protection, and the thing is just in control. It feels safe, but It's a trap. And when you are sitting there talking I couldn't help but go to the book of Proverbs. I love that book. Proverbs chapter 14, verse 12. Justin, it says there's a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. Justin, what are we talking about here? We're talking about my way. Yes, my will, my wants, my desires, my ability to be in control. It looks good. It feels safe, but the Bible tells us it ends in death. The truth is Justin, most of us have tried to fix ourselves. I've tried to fix myself, and guess what? Family it didn't. Work. But here's the great thing about God, Justin, here's what I love about God so much. He never asked you or I to have everything fixed. He never asked you to have everything lined up and all your t's crossed and all your i's dotted and everything, just all in order and everything just in this perfect bubble wrapped, present and give it to God. Say, okay, God, now you can fix me. He's not. Asking that he never asked us to fix ourselves. The only thing that God has done is he's asked you and I to trust him. And that's the whole thing about this step right here, Justin. It's about trust. How much can I trust God with my life?

Justin: 7:59

As you was talking, there's Jesus. He's talking in Matthew and he says, come. He doesn't say, come to me, all you who are perfect and have it all figured out. He doesn't say, come to me, all you whose lives are manageable and got it together. He says, come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden. Like you said, Dan, we try to carry these burdens ourselves. We try to be that driving force that continues on when the truth is Jesus says, Hey. Yolk up with me, become one with me, and let me help you carry it. But the only way that happens is if you surrender to him and let him yolk to you. Let him be a part of your life. Let him lead because that story. There's two oxen and there's a strong old one that knows the way, and there's a young one that just keeps getting it wrong. So they put'em together and they get to where they needed to go at the end of the day guess what? Jesus is the way, the truth, the life, and I don't know about you. But I want the one in control of my life that knows where he is going. Because like you said, Dan, I tried to change. I tried so many times in my life to be just a better person. And all that happened was I fell short of God's glory. But like you said, God never asked me to get his glory. God just said, come.

Dan: 9:24

That's what I wanna encourage people with today. If. If you can take anything from this podcast, if you've learned nothing at all, family is this, you don't have to have everything figured out. You don't have to have your life fixed. Give it to God. That's what this whole thing is about. The problem with control is Justin. Causes you to feel safe. but see family, what feels safe, what you and I feel is in control. Is more than likely what's killing us. It's killing you, man. The fact that we try to control our lives. The fact that we try to sit here and say if I can just get. A to line up, then B will work itself out Justin. But truthfully, how many times have we done that? Those listening to this podcast right now, how many times have you tried to fix yourself? How many times have you tried that? If I can just get A to line up, B will work itself out just fine. And guess what? You're still in stuck in"A" you're still crashing and burning. You're still trying to. Figure out what I can do Next family. Here is the million dollar secret. Take your hands off the steering wheel and let God lead and guide your life. Let God take the wheel of your life. That's what step three's all about. Justin is making that decision. To turn our will turn. Dan over. Turn Justin over. Turn the listener over. Turn me over. Allow God to take care of my life. You look at it like this, how many times have you been riding shotgun and you're trying to steer from the passenger seat? or having that that backseat driver and it's so frustrating. But how many times are we doing that to God? Justin, we're sitting here in our recovery or in our spiritual life, or in our marriage or our family or whatever. God's sitting here trying to drive, and we're trying to give God directions in our life like we know ourselves better than what God does. So God's saying, Hey, I'm gonna take you right? No God, I've been there. Take me left. It's quicker. It's easier. Remember what Proverbs said, that there's a way that seems right, but it's in leads to destruction and death. We really need to remember that scripture, Justin.

Justin: 12:11

Has anybody, if you've ever been on an airplane, did you go up to the cockpit and tell the pilot where you think they should go? When you're tired and you're worn out, do you not trust somebody else in the vehicle who's more awake, more alert to take the wheel? Those are human beings who can let us down. Why don't we put our faith in someone who's never let us down, who's never failed? Dan said it last time. He's batting a thousand. He's never struck out. So why do I feel the need to keep trying to be in control when there's someone there when not only has control, but is sovereign in all his ways, meaning his will be fulfilled regardless of if I get it right or not. He's still in control of it, Proverbs 3:5-6 one of my favorite verses, trust in the Lord with all your heart. And I think that's where it begins, because like we talked about earlier, what part are you failing to surrender? Trust in the Lord, not with part of your recovery. Don't just trust him with your recovery, with your marriage. Trust in the Lord with all of it.

Dan: 13:24

When we're talking about trying to be that backseat driver or that passenger seat driver and just letting God take the wheel, and you brought up a great point. You know where you've been tired, you've been driving all day, and you finally pull over, you're tired, you're weary, and you allow somebody to take that. wheel you allowed somebody To sit in the driver's seat and there's a sense of relaxation because I'm not having to be so focused no more. I'm not having to, I don't have to care no more Justin. Now I can't do that with my son. He's got his driver's permit now and he's doing somewhat good, but there's no way, Justin, I could jump in the passenger seat. Take a nap and let him drive on the interstate to Florida. There's no way I could do that because I would be on too high alert and too high guard. This is the problem with our recovery. We put our trust and our hope and things that are too risky. We put our trust, Justin, and we put our hope into things that are too high risk and makes us, ends up making us high strong, ends up making us nervous. And what's that lead to? Relapse. It leads to us quitting. It leads to us giving up, and then we start blaming the recovery program. We start blaming our recovery coach and we start blaming our therapist. We start blaming the church. It's all in what am I putting my trust in? What are we putting our hope in? And you said it perfectly. In Proverbs, king Solomon said, to trust in the Lord not to trust in man, not to trust in a program, not to trust in your church or your pastor as good as those things are, but to trust in the Lord with all your heart. That means. Everything. Justin, that means my all. That means I'm putting all the chips on the table. I've seen the hand. I'm going all in with this. I've gotta go all in on my recovery. Justin, you got to family. You gotta go all in on your recovery. You gotta go all in and serving the Lord that you cannot be wishy-washy with your recovery. You cannot be wishy-washy with serving the Lord. You've got. To give it your all. He said, to trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. That's the key right there, Justin. Take your hands off your will. Your will take your hands off your will. Stop leaning on your own understanding why? Because Justin, if we could have fixed it, we already would've. If you listening to this today or listening this sometime in the future for those listening, if you could have fixed yourself already. You would have, but you haven't. And the good news is all you gotta do, family is to lean into God, to trust God with all your heart. Stop leaning on your own understanding. And what's the rest of the Bible say? He will make your paths straight. But Justin, if we really want to see a picture. What surrender really looks like. And we're a week out of Easter. There is no greater picture Justin of surrender than that of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. And I'm not gonna read all the scriptures today, Justin, but I believe it's in the book of Luke chapter 22, and he, Jesus. Prayed to prayer. That is life changing. Justin, life changing for me was life changing for me. He said, father, if you're willing, take this cup, but not my will. See, that's powerful. Not my will be done, but yours be done. I put myself in that shoe. God, if you're willing to take this cup, God, if you're willing to take whatever your cup is, whatever that cup is in your life, God, if you're willing to take this cup from me, but more importantly, God, not Dan's will, not Dan's desires, not Dan's wants, but your will be done.

Justin: 18:06

For a long time I tried to do what Justin wanted to do. I lived my life according to what Justin said needed to be done. But like you said, Dan, when I came to that place and see the Garden of Gethsemane, Gethsemane means olive press. Right. That's where the anointing happens is in that olive press. Olives are great. They taste good on a salad. You can use them, man, just eat'em. They're good. But that oil, when you press an olive and it becomes oil, then you can anoint for healing. Then you can anoint for faith, and that's what it is. It's faith. It's saying, God, I put my faith in your will and. Hebrews tells us, without faith, it's impossible to please God. And what is more faithful than saying, Lord, not my will, not what I want done. I want done what you want done. You want a good marriage? Give it to God. You want to be able to love your kids the right way. Let God love them through you. Do what God wants you to do in that situation. You wanna recover, you wanna walk in freedom. Then give it to God and let him guide your steps. Because my steps led straight to the dope house. My steps led straight to prison. His steps have led me to the church. His steps have led me to fellowship. His steps have led me to love, but it took me coming to that place and saying, not my will, but thy will be done.

Dan: 19:42

And you just said it with the Garden of Gethsemane, that means pressing. What does that tell us family? That means for us to get to that anointing, I've gotta be pressed Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane bro. To get his assignment had to be pressed You see because a lot of people don't understand Jesus. And we're not gonna get up here, and I'm not gonna give you a PhD in Jesus. Long story short, bro, he was fully God and he was fully man. He was 100% God, and he was 100% man. He had to be man, because God is perfect and sinless, and you can't put the weight of sin on something perfect. So Jesus himself, God wrapped in human skin, Jesus. Had to be that ultimate sacrifice. And in this moment, Justin, this is the flesh side of Jesus coming out. Why? Because he knew the pain ahead. He knew he was fixing to be whipped. He knew he was fixing to have a crown of thorns slammed on his head. He knew they were about to nail spikes into his hands and his feet. He knew they were about to whip him to the point that they were ripping flesh off his back. He knew this. This is why Jesus prayed this. Justin, if it be your will, take this from me. But then he understood the assignment. Justin, you and I have an assignment in our life, listener. You have an assignment in your life, but to get to that assignment, there's got to be a crushing and what's gotta be crushed? My will. Your will. Jesus didn't deny his fear. I'm not here. I'm here to validate your fear today. I understand family. I know how scary it is to be at a rock bottom moment, Justin, and understand like, I can't do this no more. I can't take this next step. I don't know if I, Justin, I'm gonna be honest with you right now. When I was in my addiction, I knew one or two things was going to happen to me. I was gonna overdose and not come back'cause I already overdosed. I overdosed. and thankfully they was able to bring me back or I was gonna end up committing suicide because I wasn't going to start my life over again. I watched my family walk out on me. My fault. I did every bit of it myself, Justin, that was all me. And I watched my family walk out and I knew at that moment that two things was gonna happen to me. I was gonna overdose. Or I was gonna end up committing suicide'cause I wasn't starting over again. And it was scary. It was scary. Just like it had to be scary for Jesus in this moment right here. He didn't deny his fear. He didn't fake it till he made it. He brought it all to the father, bro. He brought it all to the father, and he surrendered with the realest prayer that you and I can ever make in our life. Family. You want to talk about boldness. You wanna talk about a prayer that shakes hell? You wanna talk about a prayer that changes families and change his lives and change his situation when you step up and say, not my will. But yours and at this moment, Justin, this is what leads to our salvation.

Justin: 23:21

The Bible says that Jesus did that. Like you said, he knew what was coming and I don't think we could ever fully grasp what happened that day, but he did it for the joy that was set before him. Look listener. If you're there today and you're wondering what joy is, happiness is dependent on circumstances. Joy is deeply rooted in gratitude for what Jesus has done. There is a joy set before you that breaks chains. There is a joy set before you that gives you strength to take that next step that you don't think you could take. But it takes us coming to that garden, it takes us getting pressed and saying, not my will. your will be done. And yes, Calvary probably looked daunting to the other criminals, but to Jesus, he saw what was on the other side. He saw the glory of God that was gonna be revealed in his death. He saw the glory in God the glory of God that was gonna be revealed in his surrender. There is a glory of God. There is a change that takes place when you surrender. That can only happen in surrender. The world has made it such a nasty word like Dan said. Man, it's a beautiful word. There's beauty in surrender. So many people don't realize that your addiction has got you chained anyway, so why not be chained to something good?

Dan: 24:47

family. Your recovery hinges on that same decision today, your recovery. Hinges on that same decision that Jesus made so many years ago. We keep saying 2000 years. It's been 2000 years since I was a kid. I don't know that. I don't know how long it is, but it's your recovery hinges on that same decision, family. You are gonna have to get to the point in your life if you are sick and tired of going around that mountain over and over and over. That sounds like the definition of insanity, Justin, to do the same things over and over and expect a different result. If you're tired, if you're sick and tired of the insanity in your life, in your marriage, in your family. In your finances, in your job, any, in any aspect of your life, you are gonna have to start with a declaration. Not my will, not my way, not my strength, but yours, God. And this is why I had to bring this up family, because Jesus didn't preach surrender. He lived it with everything in him, wanted to run when the flesh wanted to run. Oh, come on man. Somebody better catch what I just threw at you. Jesus just didn't preach. Surrender, family. He lived it when. Everything inside of him wanted to run. Family. You are going to have to live, surrender when everything else inside of you wants to quit. When everything else inside of you wants to give up. When you've tried everything else and you feel like you're at that very, at that breaking point and you're about to give up, I'm telling you right now, declare in the name of Jesus, not my will, not my way. Not my strength, but yours,

Justin: 26:53

God, As he was talking, Dan in scripture came to mind, Matthew 16:24-25 you wanna know what living it looks like, because like you said, Jesus didn't just say. Not my will, but your will. He lived it. And what does he tell us? Then Jesus said to his disciples, if any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way. Take up your cross and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it, right? You're gonna lose if you are trying to do this yourself. There is no hope. There is no future, but. If you give up your life. For my sake, you will save it. So many of us are struggling in our recovery. So many of us and recovery is more than drugs and alcohol. So many of us are just struggling with life because we fail to surrender. We keep trying to go on our own way. But if we would pick up the cross, sacrifice ourselves, sacrifice our wheels, you will see breakthrough. Now, it doesn't mean that the grass is gonna be green, and the sunshine and rainbows are gonna be every day, but it means that you will have strength to go on. And let me tell you something. For a long time, my biggest issue was with my own self. I would sit and have conversations with myself about something that happened earlier in the day or something that was gonna happen tomorrow, and I would drive myself crazy, but when I came to Christ and said, you know what, not my will, but your will be done. That anxiety, it went away at night. I can lay my head down and sleep, not because I haven't, it's not because I'm not doing anything. It's because what I've done has been meaningful. It's because what I've done has moved me forward and not backwards, but it takes that surrender, it takes that picking up the cross and saying, Lord, I want my life to be your life.

Dan: 29:02

So good. What a powerful study today. And we gotta wrap this thing up, Justin. Otherwise we'll keep going, brother. This is, this is probably honestly a a multiple podcast episode, but we're gonna try to condense this thing into about a 35 minute podcast for you. But I just feel Justin, that it probably is gonna require a deeper eval.'cause you're talking about our will and there's just so much scripture and so much just of the Bible that we just couldn't get to today. And we could, but like I said, it'd be a three hour podcast. So, but I want to close with this, Justin. What's your cup? What is that cup? What's that thing that you don't want to face? What's that thing that you don't want to carry anymore or let go of? What is your cup? And I wanna ask you a final question. What area of your life are you still trying to control and it's killing your peace? It's destroying your peace. It's destroying your life. I invite you today to write them down. Write those things down that have been gripping you and just tearing you down and just be real honest, open and raw with yourself. Write something down that something that you just haven't surrendered, and it doesn't have to be an addiction family. It might be something else in your life. Something else in your life that is a cup that you're trying to, that you're trying to hurry up and get rid of that, but you're not really surrendering it, but you're still trying to take control of it. Then I want you to do something. I want you to write it down. Then I want you to rip it up. Rip it into shreds and not because it doesn't matter, Justin, but because it's time to let God take it. And that is a symbol of you ripping that outta your life and giving it to God. Why family? Because You weren't meant to carry what Jesus already surrendered. Justin, you got anything you wanna close

Justin: 31:21

with brother? What I'd like to close with is a little bit of housekeeping. Guys, what we're doing here, it's not of us. This is something that I feel God is in. I can feel the spirit with us now. And we need your support. Now, when you hear the word support, a lot of people think money and they think, oh, here goes two pastors. Next thing they're gonna pass the offer and plate all we want. First and foremost, is for you to pray for us. Pray for the words that we speak, that they are God given, and that they get to the people who need to hear'em. And second, we ask you to help us get that to those people who need to hear'em, right? Because here's the thing, me and Dan, we can only go so far. It's up to you guys, the listeners, our family, to share this message. Go to Facebook, like and subscribe. Go to our page like it. Leave a review, leave a comment, share it, get it out there. And man, let God have his way. That's all we're looking for, and that's all we want from you guys. That's really all I got, Dan. I've just been blessed to be here today doing this,

Dan: 32:32

and it's a privilege and honor to be doing this with you, Justin. It's a privilege and honor to, for you listeners, to allow us into your homes or cars or in your ear where, however you're listening to us. Thank you so very much for that. But I close with this family. Surrender. It isn't the end of your story. It's the beginning of your healing. And that same God that we just talked about who met Jesus in the garden and gave him the strength to walk through the pain that God is with you right now in your struggle, in your Gethsemane moment. Stop holding the pen family and let him write the next chapter for you because when you finally say, not my will, but yours. That's when everything starts changing. Family. You're not too far, you're not too broken. You are loved family by the one who surrendered everything for you on that cross just to bring you back home with him. Till next time, family stay rooted, stay recovered, and let's get to work.

33:50

You are not just surviving. You are becoming, becoming rooted in truth, becoming recovered by grace, and becoming the person God always knew you could be. Thanks for joining us on Rooted in Recovered. If this episode stirred something in you, don't keep it to yourself. Share it, live it, let it take root. We'll see you next time right here where scars become testimonies and hope rises from the ashes.