WE ARE THE PROBLEM

 Since I started working in recovery I have seen a great deal of effort and interest poured into this field. Rehabs have sprung up.........meetings can be found pretty much every night of the week. Day meetings.....night meetings....people reaching out to those who are trapped in addiction. But one thing hasn't changed much. When you talk to a lot of people, it seems as though their idea of recovery is simply the absence of the drug or alcohol that has brought on a problem in the life of the addict. I do agree that such things need to be removed in order to treat an addiction, but it takes more than simply removing the source. It takes more than educating someone not to use. As I first learned when I started at Rapha Treatment Center, drugs and alcohol are not the problem.....they are only a symptom of what the problem is. They are only evidence that a problem does exist. So what is the problem? Well it is as old as time itself. We are the problem. The heart of the matter is that there exists a broken relationship between us and God. "You're kidding right?" You may be thinking to yourself. No I am not.

An example I heard years ago is that we have a God shaped hole in our heart that only He can fill. When we allow Him to occupy such a place there is a balance and a way that becomes clearer to us in our life. Without God filling that place, we will look for other things to fill it. Drugs, alcohol, sex, money, power, greed and on and on. Trouble is they can't fill it and bring the peace and contentment only God can give us. The things other than God only bring us empty promises and leave high and dry only craving more. And so the chase begins.

God has gotten such a bad wrap over the years that any mention of Him, His name, or anything to do with Him is automatically linked to religion and church. Those two are not bad in and of themselves, but if God ain't in it....If we allow ourselves to become cold and hard to the truth that only God can save us, we will continue either to slide deeper into the darkness or simply give up.

I want to leave you with a verse this morning. Simple words, and I dare you to find the word church or religion mentioned in them.

Romans 10:9 - That is you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  It says we are to confess ----verbally speak it out loud. But these words we are called to speak have to come from some where. Here is the where the change takes place in our life. BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART......there I said it. What I confess has to be spoken from a place where I truly admit that I am in need of a Power greater than myself who can restore me to sanity. A "heart-belief" that may not comprehend the how's or why's of what happens when this belief is spoken out, but knows that we have tried everything else and it isn't working. Strongest words in scripture....."I believe....I believe."  We are not talking about believing in the existence of God....as in "I believe IN God." We talking about believing the truth that He has offered to all of us. "I BELIEVE GOD!"

I hope this is a help to someone who reads this today, and may you find this God that I have written about and let Him bring the change in you that has escaped every effort you have made to right your own wrong.

God on you today...

michael b.