Yep! We can’t always trust our eyes. What we see isn’t always evidence of the truth.
There was a point in my husband’s recovery, where he had experienced a lot of healing and was, in general, doing VERY well. Most of the time he was enjoying a freedom he’d not known for a very long time.
But . . . in spite of of his success, once or twice a year he would have a brief slip and return to his old, unwanted behaviors.
It was very discouraging for him. And DEVASTATING for me. Just when I thought everything was going smoothly and I was beginning to relax—whammo—we’d be back at ground zero, starting all over again.
To be honest, there were times I really wasn’t sure how many more of his slips I would be able to survive . . . or whether I even wanted to.
After several years of this, Bruce became convinced that the addiction would always be sitting on his shoulder waiting for an opportunity. He thought that he would just have to be satisfied with doing better MOST of the time. He had all but lost his dream of ever experiencing complete freedom. In fact, he had pretty much resigned himself to the fact that, no matter how hard he worked, he would continue to fail periodically and have to relive the shame, frustration and consequences that always accompanied a slip.
I had a hard time accepting that this as truth. Bruce and I would often debate about whether COMPLETE healing was even a possibility. I would remind him of the scripture where Jesus, himself, said “nothing is impossible with God.”
The way I saw it, if Bruce’s addiction was truly unconquerable, Jesus was a liar. That may sound harsh, or even “lightening-strike-worthy,” but either what Jesus said was true or it wasn’t.
It’s true, our Savior was referring to something else at the time he spoke those words, but he hadn’t limited his statement to that particular topic, he made the universal proclamation that NOTHING was impossible with God. In my mind, that had to include addiction, but it was pretty evident that Bruce still wasn’t convinced.
It certainly wasn’t quick or easy . . . but as Bruce continued to persevere and diligently ask God to reveal the unhealed wounds that fueled each slip he encountered, he found that those slips became less and less frequent. In spite of his doubt that it was even possible, today he DOES know what complete freedom feels like. The addiction no longer sits on his shoulder waiting for an opportunity and he no longer experiences those periodic slips.
Healing the source of Bruce’s addiction was NOT impossible for God. The same is true for your husband. NOTHING is more powerful or trustworthy than God!
Don’t give up on your husband! If he keeps running to God every time he struggles, there is no doubt, God will guide him to that place of complete freedom, as well.
“Jesus looked at the man and said ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” — Matthew 19:26 (NIV)
TODAY’S CHAT: What has helped to restore YOUR hope when your husband has slipped in the past? What help encourage HIM when his dream of complete freedom seems to be fading?
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