As They Went, They Were Cleansed…
When we are living our life in darkness, when sin is all around us, our addictive behavior is driving the bus. Then, for the fortunate ones, rock bottom is hit and there is a moment of clarity. A brief moment is all it takes, really, just about a split-second. Jesus calls us and in that split-second we hear His voice.
Most of us don’t know how or why or what happened, we just know something changed and we should respond. We know, in our hearts, that we are on the brink of something terrible happening in our life. We know that if we take another step, another breath without pausing our current situation – just for a moment – our life will be forever changed.
This is when we realize, the fortunate ones, that our lives have become unmanageable and any power we thought we possessed is now gone, never to return. We are broken in ways we never thought possible.
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We love helping others and believe that’s one of the reasons we are chosen as Ambassadors of the Kingdom, to serve God’s children. We look to the Greatest Commandment as our Powering force.
We wonder if there is something, someone, somehow we can get out of this mess. We ask ourselves who can help me?
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
A lot of people in active addiction either have turned their back on God and Jesus Christ a long time gone or never had any kind of relationship whatsoever. Either way, God is probably not who they are thinking about. God is probably not on speed dial in their phone or in their heart.
The good news is a lot of people have heard about meetings like NA, AA and the like, where people like themselves discuss what it was like, what happened and what it’s like now. Most of them don’t realize they are about to be introduced to a loving God that will solve their problem.
And as He entered into a certain village, there met Him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: and they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. ~ Luke 17:12-13 KJB
All of us need help. Those in active addiction are no different. Yes, it’s true, some do not want help, but most are in pain, most want out, they just don’t know where the door is or how to reach it. When they realize they need mercy, they ask. The thing is, it may not sound like asking, it may sound like anger, pride or hate. It may sound like something we have never heard before, but under the mask is a cry for mercy. An understanding a Power greater than ourselves is needed to restore us to sanity. We are seeking the sanity that seems so elusive.
And when He saw them, He said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. ~ Luke 11:14-16 KJB
When we realize there is help for us, we are, usually, grateful. When we realize we haven’t burned every last bridge in our life we fall down on our face at His feet and give thanks. A lot of us don’t understand this is what we are doing, but it does, in fact, happen. It is in fact, in very different ways, what happens to each person who escapes addiction. It begins with belief.
Either the Scripture is the divine Word of God teaching us how to live and how to be a reflection of God, or it’s nothing more than a historical account of events.
