To take the edge off… Anxiety and Addiction 101
Or… why we run away from something, convinced we are running “towards the high” and not “running from the truth”.
Which, as its nature dictates, is staring us right in the face.
My behavior is that I see the truth… but brush past it saying to myself, “No, that can’t be it!?!?”
And yet, as its nature dictates, IT IS IT!
I’m just not ready for it yet.
That’s “Addiction 101”, in my experience.
And now, I’ve noticed that’s how we operate around Jesus, people run to other things, some of which are good things on the surface, some are bad things no matter how you slice it… and all the while we brush right past Jesus, saying to ourselves, “No that’s not it!”
I can’t turn to Him for “THIS” He won’t understand “THIS ANXIETY” it’s peculiar to me, nobody understands.
(And so we run away from the Way, The Truth and the Life… towards self imposed exile into the muck and mire of our own personal Siberian Salt Mine of emotional turmoil)
Because even He won’t understand me… because I don’t even understand myself!
Even though we totally focus on our self, when we need to have our focus on Christ, but why can’t we focus on Him?
Two things get in the way…
- Our intelligence, (we think we know better)
- And, not understanding that it’s a HEART issue, (where “trust” truly resides.
We are pulled apart and drawn away.
See… Anxiety
Strong’s Greek Concordance,
3309merimnáō (from 3308/mérimna, “a part, as opposed to the whole”) – properly, drawn in opposite directions;
“divided into parts” (A. T. Robertson); (figuratively) “to go to pieces” because pulled apart (in different directions), like the force exerted by sinful anxiety (worry).
Positively, 3309 (merimnáō) is used of effectively distributing concern, in proper relation to the whole picture (cf. 1 Cor 12:25; Phil 2:20).
3809 (merimnaō ) is “an old verb for worry and anxiety – literally, to be divided, distracted” (WP, 2, 156). It is more commonly used in this negative sense in the NT.
Our anxiety… our addictions… pull us apart, divides our attention and causes us to focus on the shimmering glittering enticement set off to the side of the real goal.
There is a Greek word translated into English as “entice”. Entice is a good word but doesn’t necessarily convey the weight of the Greek word.
Because in today’s world you could be “enticed” by a Dairy Queen ad on T.v. or “enticed” to try some good old fashioned cocaine.
But the Greek word includes a picture of “the hook” that the “enticing bait” gets skewered on to.
See below…
1185deleázō (from delear, “[to]bait”) – properly, to bait a hook or set a trap with bait; (figuratively) entice a victim into a moral trap, luring them in through their own selfish impulses.
We don’t realize the hook part until… like, a Big Mouth Bass, we swallow the whole thing.
We think our own personal shiny shimmery enticement is too much for God to take away and in reality… it is.
Not because He lacks the strength or ability to take care of it… but because we refuse to come to Him and say, “Here! Please take this away.”
Because let’s be honest… we have tried that… but always with a side eye attitude, and we really think we can fool God, so we say, “I tried that before it doesn’t work!”
Really? You sincerely came to God to ask for help and He said “No”.
He is “never changing” so I highly doubt that’s how it went.
The Bible says we hear God “in the still small voice”, our problem is our ANXIETY and ADDICTIONS have our brain on blast!
He revealed Himself to me while I was working. I had a new baby boy and needed $20 bucks for diapers. And when I was done talking to Him about the diapers, I honestly, said, “I don’t know if you are real or not, but Thanks for listening.”
And a real $20 dollar bill fell into my lap.
Was it an addiction; a life threatening situation; or other elevated scenario?
No.
Was it an honest statement… probably the most honest I’ve ever made.
There was no way out.
You might be thinking, “It was only $20 bucks.”
With your situation, maybe you see, “No way out.”
Maybe it was only $20 bucks… but I didn’t have it.
What I did have was a wife and new baby boy at home, that I was now responsible for.
That $20 bucks put me on The Emerging Man journey trying to find a way… not knowing Him then as THE Way, the truth; and the life!
But still and always trying to get back to that initial “high” of the first time I met Him.
After Action: If you made it this far, get somewhere quiet and in all honesty lay down your addictions and anxieties for a moment and ask God, in all honesty, if He is real to you, not to “hear nothing” or “force His hand” and then call Him false, but as a moment in time for you… a demarcation point where you truly, and honestly, cry out to God.
After Action 2.0: Get a Bible or open your phone and grab an online Bible app… He knows you, it’s time you get to know Him.
The Emerging Man… offering “Positivity… but with Work Gloves!”
theemergingman.com 