Addiction: You Can Overcome

I often wonder what it would have been like these past two years had my brother still been alive. Yes, my family was very supportive during my battle with sickness, but what would he have done? What would he have said to encourage me? So many days I felt like he was the one I needed to comfort me. All I wished was that I could go back to his letters and find the words that would help me through everything.

But he’s gone. He was still needed here, but he’s gone.

I can no longer help him. But I can help others who are still fighting this battle.

If you are one of the many struggling with addiction, I want you to know that you can be free. Healed. Clean.

And there are four things that I would like to share with you to help you overcome.

1.) It only takes one mistake

I think that is the hard part about addiction. You never fully realize the consequences. Friends and family fall dead all around you from drugs, but you never think it will happen to you. “Oh, they just weren’t careful.”

Let me tell you something. My brother knew what he was doing. He had been using drugs for almost two decades. He knew what was safe to mix or take and what wasn’t. But he still overdosed.

No one is safe. It doesn’t matter if you are just starting out or if you have been using for years. It only takes one mistake.

You might know what you’re doing when you’re in a sober state. But once your mind is altered, you cannot trust what actions you will commit next. And there is no knowing if those actions could be the end of it all.

2.) It’s No Secret

Drug abuse is not something that can be easily hidden. It is not hard for someone close to you to notice a difference, especially if that person has had experience from the past. It can be quite obvious when abuse is active and when it is not. Do not think what you do is unknown to others.

Now knowing that you have nothing to hide, be encouraged to take the first step towards getting help. If you’re worried about judgement, realize that you would be judged more for staying in an addiction than you would be fighting to get out of it. No one can judge you for doing everything you can to be clean and free. That is all anyone wants for you.

3.) There is a Way Out

If you are feeling as if there is no escape, as if this is the fate and pit you have fallen into with no way out, know this: God will never allow something in your life to tempt you beyond measure. He always provides a way out. That is a fact. That is a promise.

Focus on that way out. Do not tell yourself it does not exist. It exists, and you can find it. You can open that door and walk out into a new life of freedom. And when you close that door behind you, that pit can disappear into oblivion. You never have to touch it again. Just keep walking straight.

In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3:6

4.) Euphoria is limited; Freedom is infinite

It feels good. I know it feels good. It can be so hard to let go of that pleasure, that relaxation and euphoria. But it’s playing with fire.

I want to tell you that there is a better fire, a living fire. You can replace that limited feeling with something far greater. You can find peace. You can be surrounded with overwhelming joy and power beyond belief. If you think drugs release you into a liberating world, I dare you to taste what the power of the Holy Spirit can do when you allow Him freedom in your soul.

All it takes is crying out to Jesus, asking for forgiveness, and accepting Him into your heart. This is His will for you. And when your will lines up with His, He will give you the desires of your heart – to be clean and free forever.

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. – Romans 10:9

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. – 1 John 5:14-15

Ask for your freedom today!