addiction

Originally posted at http://www.theresstillhope.org

The Bible never says, “Be loud and know that I am God.” Nope, it says, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

Still is the antidote to stress.

Stress is a primary trigger of addiction. Few things are a worse enemy than stress. According to the Center for Disease Control, stress can literally kill you.

Let’s talk about stress – ASAP. Four things can lead to stress:

       A = Ambition
       S = Storms
       A = Appetites
       P = Procrastination

The answer to stress is to dig a little deeper. What is behind your stress? I suggest you do whatever you can to mitigate these four things: ambition, storms, appetites, and procrastination. 

Recovery Step: Work on the things that work on stress before your stress works on you. Do it ASAP.

by Anonymous

People don’t go to war by themselves. It would be a suicide mission. Someone will have to have your back.
We / you / I need a battle buddy.
The same is true in the spiritual battles I face. I can’t go to war by myself against the lust of my flesh, the lust of my eyes, and the pride of my life which is how evil spiritual forces attack me. I will be doomed to fail.
If all I want is to be forgiven, I can admit my sin and brokenness to God. If I want to make a change, I have to admit it to someone else.
Is there a sin in my life that I need to confess to another person and make a change?

Revealing my sin is the beginning of healing. I don’t need to admit my sin to everyone. But I need to admit it to someone. I need one or more persons who’ll love me unconditionally, accept me completely, and pray for me constantly.
James 5:16 says, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you. When a
believing person prays, great things happen”.
When I confess my sins to someone else, I open the relief valve and take the pressure off. Suddenly, the scary monster in the closet isn’t so big.
Often sin is a cycle. I start out humbly asking God for help, so he gives me the power to make it. After about six months of success, I start getting prideful. Then I fall. And, in humility again, I ask God for help. If I could stay in that spirit of humility, I’d be good. But pride always returns.
I can’t kick that kind of cycle without friends who have chosen me, who know me, who challenge me, and who are committed to me AND vice-versa. When success comes, they will help me stay in perspective so my humility stays in check.
However, what frightens me about revealing my sin to someone else?

To think I can fight my daily spiritual battles without being honest about it with others is simply being in
denial. It never works. I guarantee eventual failure when I do that.
This is why local churches are so important. But I can attend many churches for years and never put myself in a situation where I know others and others know me.
As a way of avoiding intimacy, I am quick to form a network of surface-level relationships, a collection of
“buddies” and yet never really form one close friendship. And when it comes to the most important
relationship of all, the relationship I choose to establish with God, I am quick to avoid intimacy there too.
Who in my life can I confess my sin(s) to? What makes that person(s) trustworthy?

I should look for guys who will always tell me the truth, no sugarcoating allowed. They should me men who are courageous enough to call me on the carpet when appropriate. They should know how to pump me up (when I am down) and how to celebrate my victories (when I am up). They should be willing and able to help me handle my frustrations, my hurts, and my humiliations. And these guys can also serve as emotional trash collectors by helping me dispose of any mental garbage I’ve managed to accumulate. These buddies are always on call, and my secrets are always safe with these rugged saints.