Philippians 4: 6 - 7 NKJV
I got to thinking this week of a few of those things I have used to cope with all that is around me. Some time ago I had a habit of posting inspirational phrases on my walls at home. I'm sure that at one time there must have been more than a few index cards taped to my walls. The idea was that from the moment I woke up each day until the time I went to sleep I was surounded by these inspirationl phrases. Good thoughts in, good attitude on the outside right? Yeah, well it didn't always work out that way. I mention this because our sunday conversation this week turned to a few of those things we all do to help us through the day. There seem to be so many addictions out there that people use to help them through their own life journeys. I have a friend who has battled a drug addiction for some time before turning his own life towards Christ. Now, for those of you who might expect a lecture on the evil sins of abusing drugs, I ask you to take a step back and look within. For we all have had something we may have used at one point or another to keep us in our own comfort zone while the world raged around us. For me it was a food addiction. For others it may be drugs, work or that desire for success. Any way you might look at it, it's still something we might use to get us through the day. These are our crutches. Like a pair of crutches we might use to assist a broken leg, we also use our own emotional crutches to help us through our day. So, what is it that you rest your hopes on in those moments where you feel the most lonely, tired or afraid? The apostle Paul would tell us to place our anxieties upon Christ Jesus {Philippians 4:6-7}. Jesus Himself asked those who were listening what would be gained by worrying about their own lives {Matthew 5:27}. Yet this is exactly what we do on a day to day basis. These are the things that make us feel good temporarily and yet come roaring back to bite us before too long.
7casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
1 Peter 5: 7 - 8 NKJV
The one thing that I would mention is that those crutches which we all too often use to make us feel comfortable in our own surroundings are just a temporary fix. Like a pair of crutches we might use for a broken limb, they're only good for as long as we need them to get around. Once we're healed, we seldom feel the need to use them further. Seriously, how many healthy people do you see hobbling down the street on crutches? Like I said, I've been on the other side of the addiction fence, so I can relate to my friend who seems to be fighting his demons of the past once again. The trouble is, those urges never go away, but maybe we just learn to accept them for what they are, a temporary escape. Through all of my struggles with food addictions, those triggers that caused me to lean on those crutches never went away, I just learned to see them as they were, an escape. Now, that in no way means that I still don't struggle with my own demons, but I can rest assured that I'm not alone in my fight. I made the comment to a friend this week as I we talked about my long work hours. As I told him, "you can't keep Jesus down." Indeed, we are told that it is that Spirit of Christ Jesus that now lives through us {Galations 2:20}. Whatever it is that we experience it is He who experiences it through us. Simply put, as we live, so does Jesus live. We have never been closer to Christ than we are today. So I've asked myself in my food and pornography addictions, is this something Christ would want for Himself? I believe that the obvious answer is NO. Yet, we continue to go back to those crutches that make us feel good temporarily. One thing I'm certain of, our addictions may be temporary, but it is Christ Jesus who never changes {Hebrews 13:8}. Our situations and how we deal with them may change day to day, but the one constant in our lives is Christ. I can't think of any twelve step program that beats that.
20“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Galations 2:20 NKJV
~Scott~
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