Let’s go ahead and let the cat out of the bag, addicts are not hopeless!

They’re worthwhile. They, like every other person on earth, were created by God with a purpose to live a happy, joyful, abundant life. So, how do you get over the overwhelming feeling that you or an addicted loved one is hopeless?

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We know our minds can play tricks on us, our hearts can play tricks on us and our emotions can sometimes tell us lies and make us think thoughts that are not true,

so that our perception of reality is blurred and often inaccurate. The truth is God loves you. The truth is you were created to have a purpose in this life and to live a life that matters for God.

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How do you move forward and closer to this life of purpose? You come to understand that recovery is a gift from God. That this addiction you’ve gone through, this pain and suffering that you have suffered is not necessarily a bad thing. What do I mean? When a baby goes through teething pains we are sorry that he is suffering, but we know it is for his own good. He must go through this so his teeth can come and he chew all his food. So, the short-term pain is looked at as inconsequential compared to the long-term benefit, much like growing pains in a young child. Or, even a hernia surgery, back surgery or heart surgery. While it’s unfortunate that somebody would need surgery and have to go through the pain of it, it’s so great that there is something that can repair the hernia/back/heart so it doesn’t ruin the rest of our lives. God can do the same with your addiction. He can use it to bring you closer to Him, increase your faith, give you back your life and show you how to live it to the fullest… if you let Him.

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Our lives are a journey and a gift from God and we are to look at them as as we would chapters in a book or scenes in a play. Yes, there was a chapter in our lives where we suffered from addiction and the severe spiritual, physical and emotional problems that our addiction caused for us and our loved ones. But, now there are going to be so many more awesome, exciting and happy chapters on our recovery journey. Can you imagine a football player practicing and complaining to the coach that the opposing team was hitting him. Well, of course they’re hitting him, that’s how they players get tougher and stronger so they can withstand the hits of the opponent in the game and win.

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So, yeah, we have some pains and problems in our life and our addiction hurt us, especially when we felt trapped in it’s throes and were at the height of our suffering. But we rise above that with faith and hope and excitement as we look forward to our recovery journey, the beginning of the rest of our life. A life focused on faith and hope and certainty that we have value as an individual, that God loves us and God has a specific purpose for our life and that there is a way to overcome our addiction. There is a way out of the pit of addiction. I know this is true as I and countless others have succeeded in finding freedom, joy, happiness and purpose in our lives.

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Thankfully there are many different ways addicts can receive help to overcome the bondage of addiction...

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They only need to choose to engage any of these methods such as a 12 step programs like AA or NA, individual counseling or therapy, 30 day in-patient programs, out-patient treatment programs, celebrate recovery programs and many other fine programs. I believe God uses and provides all of these to help us, bless us, teach us and show us the path to recovery. Pick the one best suited for you and begin your journey!

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We need to stop thinking about our life in terms of accomplishments but start to think of it in terms of a journey. Imagine a ride at Disneyland, the question wouldn’t be “how long was the ride?” the question would be “how did you enjoy it?” We want to be able to enjoy our lives, enjoy the journey. Yes, there are some hardships and trials along the way but just like an Army boot camp recruit, who is training to get tough so he fight well and win the war, we use our addiction as a training ground. We use it as an inspiration point, we use it as a turning point in saying “yes I suffered through this but God is showing me there is a way out, he can use me to help others and show me there is purpose for my life.”

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God has shown me and millions of other addicts that we can have a successful recovery journey of faith and hope. God promises if you seek him you will find him. So, rest assured that even though other people may have deemed your life not of great value and even if you yourself have deemed your life not of great value, the good news is you are not the final judge. God is the judge and he has deemed you extremely valuable. He created you. So take that step of faith. Do not lose your hope. We lose hope when we believe tomorrow could never be better than today. So, don’t lose hope get on the road to recovery, you are far from hopeless.

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Just take that first step on the journey…and, that is a step of faith towards God…just ask God to help you…admit you can’t do it by yourself. He will not let you down. He will help you and restore you better then ever. Try it, please. What have you got to lose? If you’re like me, your addiction has stolen everything from you that mattered already. What have you got to gain? EVERYTHING! How about your life back and better than ever, better then you could have ever imagined it. That’s the power of God. Let Him use it on you as you begin YOUR recovery journey. And that my friends is the path, the map, they key to a happy, joyful and peace-filled life. You deserve it. God wants you to have it. The ride (your life) doesn’t end at your addiction, that’s like thinking school ends at 6th grade or dinner ends with a roll and butter or a football game ends after the 1st quarter. Nope, you’d miss the best part if you left early. So keep going… hop on… the ride is just starting!