When addicts comes to the point of understanding that they
cannot hope to get well without the power of God, it is time to begin growing
in relationship with this God and in understanding of who God is and what He
can do. The place to learn about God and His true character is in the pages of
Scripture. The Bible is God’s revelation of Himself to His people. Anyone
seeking to know God more deeply should start there.
Through the Bible God also communicates His message of hope
and redemption for sinners. Through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, sin
was defeated—past, present, and future. The Gospel, the Good News, is the hope
of freedom, transformation and restoration that feeds the weary soul of the
addict.
The Bible is also a practical guide for living. While many
people see it as simply a book of rules and ancient stories, the Bible actually
provides very practical and useful advice for how to live life today. Though
written centuries ago, people and their sins stay the same. Our struggles are
universal across generations. The Bible demonstrates for all time what it looks
like to live in wholeness.
The Spirit in the
Process of Recovery
Many people are looking for an approach of ‘takeback your power’ in drug rehabilitation. What does this really mean? What
does it mean for Christians?
The idea behind this method of overcoming addictions is that
there is a power within us, which must be nurtured and cultivated. Some may
refer to it as the ‘inner child.’ Addiction often develops as the nasty
by-product of childhood abuse and abandonment. Taking back one’s power means
learning to leave behind the entitlement, victim-hood and past trauma that only
impede wholeness.
To learn to live in recovery and walk in a life of sobriety,
the addict will need to feed the Spirit that indwells them. This will include
seeking God’s will, turning from behaviors that dishonor God and self, and
learning to discern the Spirit’s guidance in their lives. While God is the
power behind this kind of transformation, the addict is making a choice to
welcome the overhaul and take back the power that God has given them for life
and restoration.
The Role of Faith
There is an inseparable link between faithand recovery from drug use. Sobriety
is far more than making a decision
to stop using drugs. It is a complete paradigm shift in which the individual
must learn to stop trusting in drugs or other addictions for support, pain
relief, coping skills, companionship or happiness, and begin to look to God as
the great and all-powerful caregiver and provider. God’s power, love, and grace
are available to all who seek them, but there must be just the smallest sliver
of faith and willingness.
And faith is what keeps the recovering addict growing away
from addiction and into the person that God has intended him to be. Faith
believes that God has a purpose for the addict and that when they let go of the
addiction, they may begin to walk in this glorious fulfillment.
The path of addiction, while painful, was not a ‘mess up’ or
a wrong turn. God is using this trial to shape you into the person He would
have you be. Through it you will learn to trust, rely upon, and even love Him.
You will find in Him a joy and a peace greater than any high you could purchase
on the street. You will become whole.
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