Tuesday, 23 December 2008

• I'm a Child of God Who Struggles w/Alcohol Addiction

  Guest post submitted by Sakura_Chika
  

  I am not an alcoholic.

  I am a Child of God who struggles with an alcohol addiction.

  A.A. helps a lot of people overcome their addiction. And I think that's great. But it wouldn't work for me.

  See, I'm really good at idolizing things. If I joined A.A., I would get so focused on the 12 steps and everything else, that my primary focus would not be on Christ anymore.

  And He healed me. I lived out in the middle of nowhere Kazakhstan, in a village, with no other Christians, no other recovering alcoholics.

  And He healed me.

  I remember taking a walk around my village one day. Mountains in the distance, walking on a dirt road, feeling like I was walking in a forest, as that's how some of roads were like, and thinking, "God is so gracious. Lots of people have to go to rehab to overcome an addiction like this. And, my God, by his Grace, has decided to heal me in this beautiful place. With only Him to rely on." (I had a church family, but they were two hours away in the city).

  He is AMAZING.

  He has made me in to a new creation. But that doesn't mean I'm still not tempted.

  In the beginning of my recovery, I gave in all the time. But, slowly, slowly, He became more and I became less. He provided a sister who was always there to talk (on the phone, anyways) when I was tempted. Sometimes after our talks, I wouldn't drink. Sometimes I did. But no matter what happened, she was always there for me, to support and encourage me.

  And, it took a long time. But after awhile, the craving for alcohol became less, and the craving for Christ became more.  And when I say this, I don't think it's a healing in the way most people would think I'm healed. Like I said I'm still tempted. I still crave it.

  But His spirit has become so strong in me, that no matter how big the temptation, he always is bigger than that. No matter how big the craving is, the craving to live for Him and His glory is bigger still.

  I sit here typing this, and my body is saying it wants the stupid stuff. But I am so full of the love of the Father, am so lost in His Truth, that I can brush it off and say, "whatever." And continue in what I'm doing-such as writing this testimony for you all.

  Because the addiction no longer controls me. The power of Christ does.

  Alcohol addiction is just like any other sin. You can't keep your eyes focused on not drinking. You need to keep your eyes focused on Christ. The great Healer. Because He wants to heal you. But first you need to give your life to Him. And, even after you give your life to Him, you still may struggle a long time before you see any signs of overcoming the addiction (that was the case with me). But, no matter what, always remember, that Christ is always there, no matter what you do. No matter how many times you fall, no matter how many times you give in to the flesh, He will ALWAYS be there. Satan wants feelings of guilt to hold you back; God wants you to come to Him, no matter what you've done.

  Keep coming to Him. He wants to heal your brokenness.

  When I would give in to the craving, I would feel like I couldn't come to God because of what I had done. But that was a lie. I would avoid praying/asking for forgiveness for hours before I'd come to Him and ask for forgiveness.

  But the truth of the matter is, no matter how much I had messed up, God desired for me to come to Him RIGHT THEN. He wanted to forgive. He wanted to comfort. He wanted to heal.

  Satan wants you to believe that you have to control the addiction. But the truth is, if you let Christ, He will control the addiction as you keep your eyes on Him. And then you will be able to live in the freedom of Christ.
  

  Editor's note: the views of the author aren't necessarily the views of the editorial staff. We encourage anyone dealing with an addiction to seek spiritual help as well as counseling and support groups.
  

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