True Freedom

There are things in the universe we can’t explain. No matter how hard we try we can’t wrap our minds around it. Some things we’ll never know about this side of heaven. Addiction is described as baffling. It can be hard to wrap our minds around it. Many people who have never struggled with addiction may think the addict can just stop if they want to. However, it’s not that simple. My wife and I watch On Patrol Live and on a recent show a man was arrested after entering a garage without permission. This man was on the show a week earlier. He was found in an alley unresponsive from an overdose. He nearly died from the overdose, yet here he was one week later high and going to jail. Addiction is baffling.

“One feels that something more than human power is needed to produce the essential psychic change.” (AA Big Book, XXVII). The Doctor’s insight is that the addict can’t stop without some kind of divine intervention. We need a power greater than ourselves. God has the power to restore us to sanity. The one who created all things and by His own breath gave us life, can restore us. He can bust open the prison doors of addiction so that we can walk through them into a new life. “He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us.” (2 Corinthians 1:10). The apostle Paul received 39 lashes on five different occasions from Jewish authorities, 3 times he was beaten with rods, once he was pelted with stone and left for dead, and many times was imprisoned for his faith. As if this wasn’t enough Paul was shipwrecked 3 times and 1 of them left him floating in the open seas for a day and a night. Paul credits God for delivering him from all this. This same God can deliver us from our addiction.

God can do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. There are many times in life where we need help. The addict needs a life changing intervention. We need a power greater than ourselves to deliver us from the perils of addiction. So in AA terms we turn to God as we understand HIm. This doesn’t mean we set up idols. This means that no matter how limited we are in how we see God we can turn to HIm with our limited understanding. We can turn to God even in our doubts. The key is turning to the Creator of all things for a power that is greater than our own. The doctor said it is necessary if we are going to walk free from our addiction. So in our finite minds we decide to cry out to God to save us. In doing so, we unleash a power that can change us. God is the way out of addiction.