To me, the picture above is a great illustration of what it's like living under the bondage of addiction. It's like trying to walk a tightrope with your feet tied together. The two just don't go together. Neither does real life and the infusion of a substance into our bodies and brains. The two cannot co-exist together.
Such a thought as the inability of life and addiction not being able to co-exist is found in the simple words of Step #1- I am powerless (translated: I keep falling off the tightrope) and my life has become unmanageable (translated: I know that all I have to do is reach down and untie the rope, but I'm afraid that I will fall off).
Been cruising through the Message Bible over the past few days, and found myself at Matthew 9:12-13: This is Jesus speaking---"Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what the Scripture means: ' I'm after mercy, not religion.' I'm here to invite the outsiders, not coddle the insiders."
Addiction, by the sheer nature of it's destruction, puts us on the outside of God's will and Jesus' desire to heal us. Funny thing about sickness...you can't really get help until you admit that you are sick and need help. Same with addiction. You can be free until you admit that there isn't any way out that you can see. When we can't find a way out through our own efforts to quit or even change, then we begin to look outside our own efforts for an answer to our problem. That is the beginning of healing. Father Martin, long time recovering alcoholic and Catholic Priest use to put it this way. Addiction is like getting up every morning and climbing into a boxing ring to fight. Only problem is, we get our brains beat out. So we go home that night and try to figure out how we can climb back in that ring and achieve a different result. Trouble is, we can't. We continue to climb into the ring day after day, and, day after day, we get our brains beat out. Suddenly one day, it dawns on us...."Why don't I just not get in the ring?" Such is the mindset of one who is addicted. They will spend vast amounts of energy and thought on how they can find a better way to deal with their problem, only to discover that their using has slowed down one bit. In fact, they have deceived themselves into believing that they are actually getting better because they have devoted time and thought to change. Trouble is, they devoted "O" effort into actually doing anything about it. They just feel better because they thought about changing. Change is more than thought or time......it is action.
I know you've read it here before, but I don't know any other way of saying it.
We don't have an alcohol or drug problem. Alcohol and drugs aren't your problem. They are merely symptoms of a deeper problem inside you. Our problem is that we have a living problem. We have a broken relationship with Christ as evidenced by the sin/ destruction we have created through our own bad choices. The only answer is found in a person. A person that some refer to as the "Great Physician". I guess that's a pretty good deal if you know that you are sick and in need of being healed.
Consider the possibility that Jesus truly is who He claims He is.
Consider the possibility that Jesus will do what He has promised He would.
You know that you don't have to climb into that ring today, don't you?
God on you....
mb
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