Addiction recovery can be grueling at times. It takes a lot of energy. It requires uncomfortable risks. It can be absolutely exhausting. There may be times when you think you can’t go on. It seems like it would be so much easier just to give up.
Prior to becoming involved with Life More Abundant Network, I worked for many years in marketing and advertising. During that time I often remember my boss saying:
“an organization’s first responsibility to its customers is to stay in business.”
If, because of wrong decisions, irresponsible behaviors, or inattention to their vulnerabilities, a company has to close its doors, they and their products or services can no longer benefit anyone.
There is an interesting parallel that can be drawn between this business concept and addiction recovery. YOUR first responsibility to God, your family, your community, and even yourself, is to stay in the “business” of recovery.
If you get tired or frustrated and throw in the towel, you are truly risking everything, including your marriage, your self-respect and any chance of becoming the person God created you to be.
Anything you allow to become more important than your recovery will ultimately be lost to you if you continue or return to the addictive behaviors. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but as the addiction increases its hold, as it always does, it will demand more and more of your time and attention. There will be less of “you” left to focus on your family, your job or maintaining that image you’ve been trying to present to the world. Life, as you know it, will begin to crumble.
Such talk isn’t just a melodramatic attempt to “scare you straight.” Sadly, it is a scenario we have seen destroy countless lives and families. When work or hobbies or anything else begin to usurp your time and energy, your recovery efforts suffer and old thoughts and habits begin to sneak back in. Before you know it, the addiction will have regained control over your life.
Don’t let the enemy tell you that it won’t happen to you. The still unresolved issues lurking in your subconscious WILL continue to affect your choices. The shame, anxiety, and secrets of addiction will continue to chip away at your true God-given identity and keep you from pursuing your dreams. The inevitable isolation addiction creates will leave you with nothing but your own increasingly distorted thinking to guide you.
So, if you’ve been sliding, no matter how slightly, now is the time to recommit yourself to your recovery and ask God to help you rightly set your priorities. It will bring you new life!
“Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.” —Deuteronomy 6:18
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