June 16
Scripture focus: I can anticipate the response that is coming: "I know that all God's commands are spiritual, but I'm not. Isn't this also your experience?" Yes. I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary. But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. Romans 7:14-25 The Message
Suppose all this conflict leads to a bad case of insomnia, and I decide to take a sedative to get some sleep. The first time I try a sedative, it immediately works – reinforcing my belief that sleeping pills are a solution to my problem (if I’ve identified my problem as sleeplessness).
My cells quickly habituate to them, however, and soon they are less sensitive and responsive to the pill. Soon, I’m taking a couple of pills – I’ve developed tolerance.
Eventually more cells are damaged, and soon the whole system must adapt. Cells that used to know how to go to sleep are less capable than they were before you took the first pill. The cells now go completely wacko. It rebounds by getting completely excitable. All those adapted cells are screaming for a return to their new normal. Something is terribly wrong, and they want you to fix it. Agitation increases. The gauntlet is thrown down, the war is on.
The only way for Pete, Michael and I to resolve our issue is to return to the beginning and start over. We must calm down, gather together and get the facts straight. We must be gracious, patient and kind. We must be good listeners. This is the way out of chaos, and sets things
right in a life of contradictions where I want to serve God, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. How did this happen? When feedback failed, the system broke down completely. Whether we’re talking about chemical addictions, or relationships, the same kind of systems that help brains function or fail, operate in daily life as well.
Feedback is a good thing; listening to community is a good thing. Living in a reasonable state of calm is a good thing. Prolonged imbalance is a bad thing. Grace helps us find our way back to God, to our center, to a place where sin can no longer dominate our every waking moment.
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2 comments:
So, if someone were taking several prescription drugs for pain, do they do the same thing?
Interesting question, or, ah, bait. Simple answer yes.
Short story long below from my personal view and experience of many years sober and using pain meds as prescribed.
Sure the body adjusts to the meds and the brain chemistry is altered. That is the point of pain medication. I have a Dr.friend that states that 1/3 of those in the hospital are there for side effects of medications they are on.
Prolonged pain can be a fact of life and I do not feel anyone can judge another until they have walked in those particular shoes. My father took non opiate pain meds until the pain was so great from his cancer that they put him on methadone and eventually intentially snowed him once the cancer set up in his brain.
The above I would say is critical and chronic pain. Now a tooth ache or pulled tooth, minor knee surgery and the like from my personal experience are temporary pain related situations and I as a recovering drug addict have used meds as prescribed on a short term basis. Some purest might judge this as not being sober but I tend to lean towards common sense. If you are in pain and are using pain meds our motives always need a reality check with a sponsor and such to ensure we are living in reality. Our rigorous honesty has to come in to play as those of us that have a history of drug abuse are amazingly good at denial.
Managing our emotions and spiritual condition can be a challange as our physical condition effects our emotional and spiritual state. As a result our character defects can arise resulting in harming ourselves and others and can go to the point of total relapse.
Hope this isn't viewed as a rant but tried to cover a few different scenarios here as you did not qualify your particular circumstances.
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