There is hope for the alcoholic/addict AND for the people who support them and love them.
But, how do we find it?
Sometimes, watching someone near the bottom of their disease is frightening and overwhelming, making them feel like they just want to ignore us, run away, or give up. What can they do?
The same is true for the alcoholic/addict. We are stuck inside a prison of our own making. The prison of the insanity of the disease. It’s frightening, lonely and overwhelming. It’s easier to keep drinking or using because it’s what we know, even if it’s not working anymore—making us feel like we just want to ignore it, run away, or give up. How do we ever stop?
Both people on either side of this story are powerless. The alcoholic/addict is powerless over the grip the disease has over them—and the person watching and loving the addict is powerless over that person.
A friend of mine in recovery often says, “It’s not the drinking, it’s the thinking.”
So true. So, to recover, our thinking needs to include this thought—We have to admit that we are powerless. My bottom included asking God for help. Completely surrendering. Because, what I was doing on my own power was not working.
The people who support us wonder what they can do, too. Same thing. Admit you are powerless over the alcoholic/addict and surrender THEM to God.
My pastor used a quote this weekend in his sermon about no-strings-attached-generosity, by Matt Chandler, “Generosity is: Grace Made Visible.” I love that.
Sometimes all that the alcoholic/addict needs from you is for you to just be there—show up, don’t give up. I know it’s hard, but it’s the hope that we can hold onto that keeps us going.
That is the concept of meetings when we finally do get sober. To come and listen to others tell their real stories (which include some of the people in their lives who didn’t give up on them) and hear that there is hope through the telling of their experiences—and, a way out of the insanity of old behaviors through surrender.
I come to meetings to hear God talk to me. He talks directly to me through the others in the room. He gives me little tidbits of hope.
I can be...
Faith in action.
Love without strings.
Grace made visible.
Surrender—then be the light for someone else.
Works for both sides of this story, right?
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1
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