Week 8: Mist of Deceit
So this week's blog took on a completely different path than what I had originally had planned. Sunday morning is a time I get up in the morning and have time to just meditate while Sophie sleeps in my lap. My thoughts were on the differences between introverts and extroverts and my role in God's plan for my life. I have spoke in front of hundreds of people, I have run groups, but the joy I find most is when it is a smaller setting, a few people to one person. God had just put it on my heart. I did not know what God had in store for me this morning.
Ginger and I came to church and we had just gotten seated when one of our best friends came up to us and rather insistently said she needed my help. I will not be mentioning names. Basically a loved one of someone who has, in the past, had a problem with alcohol and drugs, had informed this loved one that they felt they could drink/use again. And they didn't need church. And they were upset that the loved one would not join in on drinking with them. The addict felt disrespected by this person for not respecting their choice.
To say God spoke through me is an understatement. It wasn't me. So let me state a fact. When an addict/alcoholic crosses the line into addiction, there is no going back. There is no becoming a normal drinker again. Addiction is a disease. And the only remedy, the only "cure" is abstinence. Most people I know, who have crossed over into addiction, use the drug or substance to numb feelings or pain. Others seek the high, some seek company of other addicts so they don't feel guilty for the things that drunkness or being high out of your mind causes. Some isolate and hide. I have met many people who said God "healed them of the desire to drink." So far about 100% of those that have told me and went out and drank because they were healed relapsed because they would tell me they do not need church, a support group, or any help.
I am still tempted. Let me make that perfectly clear. I am one choice, one drink, one hit from a relapse. But I have a plethora of tools and support when I am tempted. However it is up to me to utilize my network and to use my tools. But it is moments like today, those one on one talks that remind me of where I have come from and where I am now. In a week I will be flying to Iowa to see my parents. Most do not know what a miracle that is and how the healing power of God has helped our family in ways that only He can get the glory.
To be short, the advice I gave this person was to establish healthy boundaries and if in a unhealthy situation, remove yourself until it can become healthy again and that person becomes healthy. In this case it is relying upon God, put your focus on Him, and anything anyone says align it with the Word of God and see how it matches up. And realize as you establish these boundaries it is the person making the choice. They may choose a path of healing or a path that leads elsewhere.
Which leads to this week's photo. It actually started at the dentist in a dentist chair. Talking about my series on Addiction and Recovery, Joyce was throwing out some ideas and mentioned walking into a mist. And the wheels started turning.
I have been wanting to go to the Oakwood cemetery for a while. Little did I know that after this photoshoot about 10 minutes later the bottom fell out of the sky!
So my meaning. Addiction is like walking in a mist. They say in addiction there are only three outcomes: Institutions (including jail), death or recovery. We do not see what is in front of us. In this shot I am looking up and seeing an angel walking toward it. In fact there is an angel to the left and right. In our addiction we fool ourselves. We are not hurting anyone we say. I even used the Bible to justify I could drink. But the angels are an illusion. The angels are actually part of a tombstone and the mist is leading to my death. But in my addiction I do not see that. I just see the angels. I see what I want. Isn't Satan the Angel of light? And once we get close enough to see where we are well, sometimes by then it is too late. By the grace of God, He led my to recovery so I did not have to see what was at the end of the mist.
Baa
Ginger and I came to church and we had just gotten seated when one of our best friends came up to us and rather insistently said she needed my help. I will not be mentioning names. Basically a loved one of someone who has, in the past, had a problem with alcohol and drugs, had informed this loved one that they felt they could drink/use again. And they didn't need church. And they were upset that the loved one would not join in on drinking with them. The addict felt disrespected by this person for not respecting their choice.
To say God spoke through me is an understatement. It wasn't me. So let me state a fact. When an addict/alcoholic crosses the line into addiction, there is no going back. There is no becoming a normal drinker again. Addiction is a disease. And the only remedy, the only "cure" is abstinence. Most people I know, who have crossed over into addiction, use the drug or substance to numb feelings or pain. Others seek the high, some seek company of other addicts so they don't feel guilty for the things that drunkness or being high out of your mind causes. Some isolate and hide. I have met many people who said God "healed them of the desire to drink." So far about 100% of those that have told me and went out and drank because they were healed relapsed because they would tell me they do not need church, a support group, or any help.
I am still tempted. Let me make that perfectly clear. I am one choice, one drink, one hit from a relapse. But I have a plethora of tools and support when I am tempted. However it is up to me to utilize my network and to use my tools. But it is moments like today, those one on one talks that remind me of where I have come from and where I am now. In a week I will be flying to Iowa to see my parents. Most do not know what a miracle that is and how the healing power of God has helped our family in ways that only He can get the glory.
To be short, the advice I gave this person was to establish healthy boundaries and if in a unhealthy situation, remove yourself until it can become healthy again and that person becomes healthy. In this case it is relying upon God, put your focus on Him, and anything anyone says align it with the Word of God and see how it matches up. And realize as you establish these boundaries it is the person making the choice. They may choose a path of healing or a path that leads elsewhere.
Which leads to this week's photo. It actually started at the dentist in a dentist chair. Talking about my series on Addiction and Recovery, Joyce was throwing out some ideas and mentioned walking into a mist. And the wheels started turning.
I have been wanting to go to the Oakwood cemetery for a while. Little did I know that after this photoshoot about 10 minutes later the bottom fell out of the sky!
So my meaning. Addiction is like walking in a mist. They say in addiction there are only three outcomes: Institutions (including jail), death or recovery. We do not see what is in front of us. In this shot I am looking up and seeing an angel walking toward it. In fact there is an angel to the left and right. In our addiction we fool ourselves. We are not hurting anyone we say. I even used the Bible to justify I could drink. But the angels are an illusion. The angels are actually part of a tombstone and the mist is leading to my death. But in my addiction I do not see that. I just see the angels. I see what I want. Isn't Satan the Angel of light? And once we get close enough to see where we are well, sometimes by then it is too late. By the grace of God, He led my to recovery so I did not have to see what was at the end of the mist.
Baa
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