Dec. 14th.....
Early morning at the Bynum house.
Christmas tree is lit....
House is quiet. Not time for Vicki to get up yet.
Today at the mall and Wal-mart people will be rushing here and there to buy presents for others......
But my friend....
He has left and gone back into the darkness.....
He has forsaken everything he has learned to take one more drink....
Kids excited as they wait their turn to sit on Santa's lap and share their Christmas wants...
My friend only wants the pain to stop...
One more drink should do the trick, only it doesn't....
More he drinks, the farther away he slides from truth...
He might not say the words, but he knows all too well that this is going to kill him...
Years of darkness takes a toll on a man's body...
Takes a toll on his spirit and soul also....
Truth doesn't sing to ring as clear as he takes another drink....
But the one thing truth does is it makes everything hurt with a greater intensity...
He takes another drink.....
Walking down Broad street, Christmas music fills the air....
"Silver Bells".....
"O Come All Ye Faithful".....
"Joy To The World".......
Joy? Not much joy when you tally up your "Life's" score and you always come out with a negative number.....Not much to add, but a whole lot to subtract.....
Wife...
Children....
Grandchildren....
Freedom...
Friends...
Health....
Jobs...
Finances...
All fall in the negative column as the list of things lost grows larger.....
He takes another drink....
No wonder the holiday's are such a dark time....
The light and tinsel of the commercial side of Christmas only magnifies the destruction of a life lived in addiction....
The brighter the lights...
The deeper the pain....
Eyes and minds blurred by alcohol only see the pain and misery they have brought about....
why not have one more drink?
But sitting here this morning, I take hope for this one who has gone back out....
You see, I believe not just in prayer....
But the one who hears my prayers....
So I do pray....
I ask for the angels of heaven to go and surround my friend....
Stand guard over this soul....
Keep the enemy at bay....
I pray that God's Holy Spirit would bring conviction on my friend....
Not condemnation, but divine conviction that leads to repentance....
Conviction and God's forgiveness which are the calling cards that move God to take him out of the darkness of his addiction, and transfer him into the wonderful light of God's presence....
I pray with the understanding that nothing is impossible with God.....
I pray my heart's cry to Jesus, my Savior...
Amen....
I do have someone I care about who has gone back "out there".
The Big Book of A.A. would refer to my friend as being one of those "poor unfortunates" who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves.....
Funny part in all of this, is that my friend knows A.A. backwards and forwards...
He can quote scripture and verse of A.A. concerning any topic related to recovery....
He just can't quit drinking....
For as long as I've known him, his years of drinking has been punctuated with short periods of sobriety.....
Please pray with me that he would not drink himself to death....
That God's healing hand would touch my friend and awaken the truth within him.
God's blessings on you and your family this Christmas season....
P.s.
This posting was never meant to be a downer during this Christmas season...
It is the simple truth that my friend is going through today....
It is a reminder that not everyone is having a "Holly, Jolly Christmas".
If anything we should count our blessings and seek to give to others what God has so freely given to us...
God on you...
mbb
No comments:
Post a Comment