Proverbs 23:2 And put a knife to your throat if you are a man of great appetite.
I don’t mean to be insensitive here, but, I did roll my eyes when I heard a doctor on a CBC radio interview say, “They were no longer calling it – alcoholism, it was now called alcohol use disorder.” I can just hear the men and women who have come to terms with their alcoholism, say at the next AA meeting, “Hi my name is Norm, and I am a victim of alcohol use disorder.” No! To be healed of it, you have to take responsibility for what it is – alcohol addiction and not some froo-froo disorder. Excuse my vernacular here, but before I knew the Lord as my saviour, I was a dumb-ass alcoholic drunk. I was not a witless-buttocks who had problems with alcohol use disorder. Oh please!
When are we going to man-up so to speak, and stop blaming all our problems on another new disorder? Like most of you, I have compassion for people who suffer under any oppressive addiction, because not but the grace of God, there go I. We, as a society, want answers for those who need help breaking their addictions, but as Anne Lamott says, “When are we going to stop and try to heal our sick stressed minds with our sick stressed minds?” We need real answers and not another disorder to blame our woes on. Matt. 15:14b They are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.
In the late 1970s, I was an alcoholic. After finally accepting personal responsibility for my addiction to alcohol, I was able to break the habit with God’s healing grace and power in my life. By God’s grace, I still live in blessed sobriety to this day. Phil. 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. A few years ago, I helped a young man who was addicted to heroin, break free of its ruthless and merciless cravings. When he was at the nadir of his addiction, he wanted to be free, and he wanted that freedom with all his mind, heart, and soul. I’m happy to say, that today, he is living a drug-free healthy life, and has become a wonderful husband and father.
One of the complaints he had at the time he was battling his drug addiction, was that the doctors who were handing out the methadone prescriptions were all too ready at the slightest hint of difficulty to raise the dosage. He said, “The doctors think they are helping by babying the addict, but they are almost guaranteeing the addict will fail in their recovery, because the doctors see them as victims, and not as people who might breakthrough.” Wow! What insight.
This young man felt he was fighting a battle on two fronts. I’m paraphrasing what he said, “I was addicted to heroin, but the doctors treated me like I was only pharmaceutically challenged. It’s so hard to get out of the system of drugs, whether it is legal or illegal.” I don’t believe all doctors are that way. A lot of good doctors and compassionate drug-counsellors are stuck within an overlegislated medical system that promotes prescriptions rather than hands-on healing. Therefore, they come out with more disorders and syndromes to try and accommodate the multitudes of hurting people looking for help. I reckon all we can say is, “Physician, heal thyself.”
We live in a restless society where the appetite for everything being sensational and extreme is also bringing with it – extreme binge drinking, heavy drug use, and many other overindulgent risky lifestyles. Prov. 23:2 And put a knife to your throat if you are a man of great appetite. Self-destructive behavior has almost become mainstream. The results are addictions to anything that can relieve the present pains in life. We will need more than labelling these souls as suffering a disorder. We need real power – the kind of power that God has.
When we begin to call sin what it is, and not cover it up with another catchy slogan, then, the results will be healing for the lost, addicted, and tormented. The Lord asks us to confess our sins to Him so that we may get rid of them and the deadly effects they cause. The road to recovery is asking the Lord for His powerful help. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Grace and a clean conscience will give us the strength to kick the bad habit.
By simply calling every human difficulty a disorder, is a disservice to those who want out of their addictions. Hi, my name is Norm, and I take ownership of the decisions I have made in my life. Because of that fact, I repent of the wrongs and sins I committed throughout my life. My bad behavior was not a disease, it was sin, and I must confess it to God so that I can get rid of it.
It is the Lord who gives us the power to overcome and fight any addiction that would try to attach itself to our body and soul. 2 Cor. 10:4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. This is how we win. We do it with God! May God give us all the ability to overcome the battles we are going through. Amen!
I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.
Thank you for sharing. It is only with God's strength we heal from anything for sure. Philippians 4:13 is my life verse.
Thank you. Gentleness, a good word to follow and work with.
Gentleness is a key to healing. It helps create the safe space to be brutally honest and take responsibility for your actions. That space is where growth, learning and healing happen. The extreme of anything is where we are going wrong.