Addiction is lonely!
May 31, 2009
For 23 million Americans, drugs and alcohol are more than personal addictions, destroying the health and future of those held in its devastating grip.
Addiction is a family tragedy, sweeping spouses and children into the whirlpool of its physical, emotional, and spiritual desperation.
The light-hearted fun and friendships of the party lifestyle soon give way to the loneliness and despair; the dark bondage of addiction!
In the hopeless torment of addiction, everything changes…
As the insidious grip of addiction tightens around the addict, the once wide world of fun and friendships and parties narrows to a confined, restricted world controlled by a power so profound everyone and everything is valued only as a means to the “next hit,” the next drink, the next round in the casino.
Behind the invisible bars of addiction, the “thief who came to steal, kill, and destroy” progressively takes all that is of value, all that is precious, and self-respect is stolen leaving only a dark hole of shame and hopelessness.
Financial security is destroyed as DUI’s and “Monday morning hangovers” trigger the embarrassment of losing one job after another.
Overwhelmed with the chaos, soon even relationships with precious family members are lost…
Finally, the addict’s physical, emotional, and spiritual health is destroyed, leaving him only a thin rope of pharmaceuticals as his only lifeline.
Then it happens: the unexpected, the amazing, the supernatural!
“I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him.” (Isaiah 57:18)
Theologians call it “the in-breaking of God.”
For some this miraculous in-breaking comes in form of an unmistakable call of God deep in their soul.
For others, the gracious intervention of God comes through the loving voices of family and friends.
For 3 million alcoholics and addicts, the journey to freedom from addiction begins with treatment.Yet, according to a 2002 study, 48% of those who began treatment, drop out and return to treatment 2, 3, 4 times and the cost of multiplied thousands of dollars.
So is that all there is? Is all we have to offer an addict and his family a lifetime of treatment centers and meetings focused on achieving and maintaining sobriety???
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