Addiction

I read this following excerpt in a book by Larry Crabb, a well-known psychologist, conference and seminar speaker, Bible teacher, popular author, and founder/director of NewWay Ministries. He shares on his website, "If I ever publish my autobiography, I’ll call it Sovereign Stumbling. My life journey to date is a series of how I have stumbled and how God has consistently guided me in His sovereign ways." He testifys that the Christian walk is filled with testings; how we deal with them makes us who we are.

"All of us are trapped by addiction to a desire for something less than God. For many women, that something less is relational control. “I will not be hurt again and I will not let people I love be hurt. I’ll see to it that what I fear never happens.” They therefore live in terror of vulnerably presenting themselves to anyone and instead become determined managers of people. Their true femininity remains safely tucked away behind the walls of relational control.

More common in men is an addiction to nonrelational control. “I will experience deep and consuming satisfaction without ever having to relate meaningfully with anyone.” They keep things shallow and safe with family and friends and feel driven to experience a joy they never feel, a joy that only deep relating can provide. Their commitment is twofold: to never risk revealing inadequacy by drawing close to people and, without breaking that commitment, to feel powerful and alive. Power in business and illicit sex are favorite strategies for reaching that goal.

The only cure for addiction is the gospel. We will not find the power to resist the pull toward lesser desires until we discover a more powerful desire that we long to fulfill, a desire the Spirit creates within our hearts when the Father forgives us. We must discover our desire for God. As we discover that desire, we come to see that we cannot pursue God and a lesser source of pleasure at the same time. The desire for God and the desire for anything else are competitive. Only one can serve as the guiding rule of life.

When we attempt to serve two masters, we end up bowing before the one who is more apparently responsive to our needs and hating the other. An hour of pornography reaps more immediate dividends than an hour of prayer. It’s only play money, but it looks real. And it does buy pleasure on demand. Prayer doesn’t do that.

We will not win the battle against addiction without discovering our desire for God. Therefore, if you want to know God, welcome shattered dreams. Nothing reveals our desire for Him so effectively.

But we must also discover God’s desire for us. A recognized desire for God exposes our idolatry and sets us on a better path. But only a fulfilled desire for God provides the power to consistently resist the lure of lesser pleasures and to stay anchored in Christ when life’s storms rage. The branch must draw life from the vine or it withers and dies."