Tuesday, November 4, 2014

PSALM 143 - No Idols in the Throne Room

Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord! I have fled to You for refuge! Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God! Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground!  (Verses 9-10)

How does God teach me to do His will?

Although addiction doesn't have eyes, ears, nose and mouth, it is nonetheless a real enemy with which we must reckon. Over the years I've seen addictions devastate lives, ruin homes and cripple destinies. For Christians as well as those who don't believe. This is on my mind this morning because there is someone in our lives right now dealing with the repercussions of addiction in his life. The idol he's chosen isn't important. What does matter is how he chooses to move forward in escaping the addiction that has cost him everything.

Frank (not his real name) is an older gentleman whose various addictions in the past have caused him to lose the love and support of his family, who live many states away from him. Alone in his later years, he's now dependent on something that's kept him imprisoned for almost ten years. The ramifications of this dependency now almost outweigh the need for the addiction. More pain from the addiction than relief from indulging it. The rub is this, as with all addictions: He still can't seem to adequately give it up. Frank knows in his head that what he reaches for is wrong on every level, that it's indeed an idol, but he doesn't know if he can exist without it. Several counselors have tried to work him through. Are still working him through. But Frank wants to find his refuge in God. What is step one?

I'm not a counselor. I am a Christian who has fought through her own addictions. Battled with others through theirs. And the one thing I'm sure has to happen first is that we run to God. Beg for His help like a beggar begs for bread. This means, also, that we run from our idol. We can't take it with us into the throne room of God and ask Him to let us keep just a little of it. Our whole hearts must want refuge in God. We must learn to hate the idol as much as God does and run! Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry! (I Corinthians 10:14)--Paul's admonition. Frank can't have his addiction and His God at the same time. He will serve one or the other.

What is step two? Let God teach you how to get back on level ground. If we have gone a long way out, it might be a long way back. The more entrenched we are in our idols, the more diligently we must choose to take an intentional path out. Celebrate Recovery or AA. Lying on our faces before the Wonderful Counselor learning how to get out of hell. God earnestly wants us to be free. We won't be until His grace meets our need. Frank must check his heart in at the door. Frank must think and not just feel. That is the hardest thing in the world for those trapped by the enemy of our souls. Our feelings likely got us into addiction in the first place. Pain, usually. And pain has a very loud voice. God is the refuge for our pain. Satan takes pain and doubles, triples, quadruples it in his effort to completely obliterate us.

Step three? Frank must hear the Word of God. It is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to Whom we must give an account (Hebrews 4). It must be his necessary food. Frank may have to have it intravenously first because he is very sick. The enemy will sit on Frank's Bible and insist he not turn a page. Eventually, with the help of those who still love the man, he will be able to see the enemy sitting there and he'll have the strength to say, "Get off my territory!" In the beginning, though, someone might have to help Frank eat.

Step four is to do the thing. There must be something in us that empowers us to get all we know to do, done. "The Helper, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." Jesus (John 14) If we ever want to get to level ground again, the Spirit of God must give us grace and strength to do it. We can know how to get out of the pit, but if we don't make an effort to climb the slimy walls and be free, we will sit there whining about our predicament forever, covered in the slime of our own procrastination. There is a way out. God promised. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to all men. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it (I Corinthians 10). You can't just look at the exit door and wish you could walk through. Frank must do what the Spirit tells him to.

Sounds like a whole lotta work, doesn't it? It is. And the person who is addicted is accustomed to taking the easy way out. Only the easy way for Frank has now left him with a long, hard road back to level. I know in my own journey, God at first can be only a little bit more important than the idol. If Frank loves God a scintilla more than he loves his idol, God will be there to create a larger gap the longer Frank is willing to leave his heart in God's hands.

How does God teach me to do His will? One day at a time, one step at a time until I'm strong enough to walk instead of crawl.

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