June 7th, 2022: Dealing with Addiction
A young man came and talked to me about his struggle with addiction. He is married and has two young children. He acknowledged that he feels helpless and uncertain about where to turn and what to do. His marriage is in trouble because of it. The emotional connection and the physical intimacy are no longer there. She just cannot put up with his addiction.
He has been struggling with it for a long time. He has some moments of victory, but they do not last long. He was open and honest about his experience. I let him talk because he needed to tell me his awful feelings and shameful thoughts about himself. Sometimes it is healthy to have the opportunity to do that when we are overwhelmed by our own brokenness.
Whenever he allows himself to be involved in the addiction, he has no long-lasting pleasure. It is something he does to seek a form of escapism and then punishes himself for doing that. It does not have to be pure hardcore either. Sometimes it has to deal with some unexpected images. Self-hatred tends to be the final conclusion of any addiction. He believes in God and knows the Scripture. We talked about the worst thing we can do to ourselves by thinking there is nothing good about us. It is like telling God that He makes a mistake by creating us.
We talked about the importance of accountability in dealing with addiction. The young man is from a very religious community and finds it hard to have someone who might understand what he is going through. I told him that I had encountered many men who have been able to overcome the same addiction. It is not easy, and it is a daily battle for them. He is welcome to let me know whether he would like to be in touch with one of them.
Before we said "goodbye", I told him that yesterday was a gift for today in terms of lessons and today is a gift for tomorrow in terms of understanding. If we keep on that way, we might attain wisdom.
"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." - James 5: 16
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." - Ephesians 6: 12
