Bobby and SheridanEveryday I work with individuals who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. A better way to say it is that most of us are "captured" or "held" by some life-controlling issue or problem. We are involved with something that just won't let us go or something we just can't seem to let go of. It has the upper hand. There are many areas that seem to keep us in prison: eating, spending/debt, gambling, sexual addictions, drugs, alcohol, addicted to work/busyness etc.... The truth is that these life-controlling problems also rob us of so many good things in our lives.
(1) They rob us of our DESTINY!
God has a wonderful plan for our lives. He has something for us to do, some specific purpose for us to accomplish. He wants us to be free to fulfill those purposes He has lined out for us. The addictive behaviors that become our prison cause us to detour from His purposes for us. We get sidetracked and lose sight of our destination. You really do have a wonderful, fulfilling, and creative destiny for your life. You may know what that plan is, or you may not know. Nonetheless, you cannot be focused or stay focused unless you keep moving in a possitive way toward what your calling is. God wants to free us from our prison and set us on our journey down DESTINY'S road.
(2) They rob us of our REST!
Those who are constantly fighting addictive behaviors become battle weary. We start asking questions like this: Why can't I just stop? What's wrong with me? Is this ever going to end? After awhile, we just want to give up. The truth is that God wants us to rest, to relax. He wants us to have peace in our lives. The constant fighting robs us of the rest that God has freely made available to us all. God rested on the seventh day. We all need our own seventh day!
(3) They rob us of our UNIQUENESS!
Every one of us is created to be unique. God has a specific purpose for each one of us to accomplish, and only we can accomplish that purpose. You have personal and uniqe gifts that God has given you to accomplish what only you can accomplish. If you don't do it, no one will ever accomplish it. No one has the ability to do what has been placed in your hands to do. Our life-controlling issues rob us of the uniqeness that God has produced in us. We can't see who we really are or what we can truly do. God wants to reiterate how special you are and how needed you are.
(4) They rob us of our GENUINENESS!
We are who God says we are! Someone may say, "I'm an alcoholic." God says that you are sober. Someone may say, "I'm dirty." God says that you are clean and pure. If you are His, you are everything he says you are. Don't believe false things about yourself; choose to believe the truth about who you genuinely are and you will walk that out. Our addictive behaviors confuse us about who we truly are. But we can change that this very moment by believing what God says about us.
(5) They rob us of our STRENGTH!
When Delilah discovered Samson's source of strength, she also discovered his source of weakness. God has given us strength, strength for everything we need in life. That strength is founded on our trust in Him. Do you trust God for strength in your life? When our hearts are pulled in any other direction, we lose that strength; we abandon our source. The simple remedy is to turn back to that trust, that faith that will empower us and sustain us. God wants to be and is all the strength you and I will ever need. Let's turn from our addictions and find strength to do so in the ONE who give us enabling power (GRACE)!