Only One True Way to Overcome Addictions?

Thank you Beth Patch and CBN.com for running my blog today!

http://blogs.cbn.com/battlingaddictions/archive/2014/02/14/only-one-true-way-to-overcome-addictions.aspx
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Only One True Way to Overcome Addictions?

The number of fractured families grows daily. You may be part of this growing number and might feel overwhelmed in your situation. This is one of my favorite verses to read when I need motivation to press on:

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.” Psalms 27:13 NKJV

I have noticed that there are those who seem to be able to work a 12-step program, those who because of mental health issues still need medications, those who can do it with Jesus only, and then there are those who need Jesus and much, much more. We just don’t hear enough about the fact that there is no ONE way to recovery.  Sometimes it seems there are people in rival camps fighting against each other, saying that their way is the only way that works.

I believe that recovery can be attained if you do it the way that works best for YOU and your family. We are all individuals; we learn differently, have unique beliefs and certainly each have our own truths. That does NOT prevent any of us from accepting the pieces of the process that work for us and traveling a path less known or accepted if that helps us and our fractured families achieve our dreams, sanity and sobriety.

There is no One Way Only road to recovery.

This statement is becoming more true to me as I think about the uniqueness of our Lord and how He created each person individually. We let go and we let God; yet sometimes He gives us ideas to help ourselves and others and bring hope for each situation. What works for one family member may turn another one completely off.

A Radical Intervention

For years I was waiting on a daughter to walk herself into rehab, and all those years she felt unloved and unworthy until I took a legal step to help her – I Marchman Acted her.

According to Okeechobee Florida Clerk of Court, “a Marchman Act is a means of providing an individual in need of substance abuse services with emergency services and temporary detention for substance abuse evaluation and treatment when required, either on a voluntary or involuntary basis.” The process is initiated by petitioning the court and a judge decides if the person meets the criteria. (Not all states have adopted the Marchman Act into their laws.)

In my daughter’s mind, taking that step to insist she get help spelled love. The Bible says in Lamentations:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” Lamentations 3:22-24(NIV)

I had to wait on the timing of the Lord before I took this legal step. The love was there all the time, but she was not able to receive it or even believe that it was there until the Marchman Act was served. My action allowed her to feel loved. That was her view; the Marchman Act spelled love to her.

Yet many have gotten treatment for their loved ones to no avail; there is a timing, and it is the Lord’s. That is when we breathe and pray, breathe and pray, breathe, cry out to the Lord and pray.

Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you. Zechariah 9:12 NIV

Prayer: Lord, we come to You today, praying Thy will be done. I can’t fix this situation or family member, I never could but it took me a while to figure that out. You Lord, love my children even more than I do, so I leave them with You, asking for serenity for my own life, protection for children and hope for the future. Yes, I will be a prisoner of hope for my family and loved ones who wrestle with addiction until the day I die or the day that You bring the healing needed. We thank You that although there may be more than one way to recovery, You are the only Way, Truth and Life and the only “one way” to live. We give you all praise and glory in Jesus precious name. Amen.

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Donna Collins Tinsley, wife, mother and grandmother, lives in Port Orange, Florida and has been included in several magazines and book compilations. She is a lover of the Lord Jesus and a sister among you. Find her at Facebook,   http://thornrose7.blogspot.com/  or join Somebody’s Mother Online Prayer Support Group athttps://www.facebook.com/groups/119408188089314/ Please email her at Thornrose7@aol.com with CBN blog article in the subject.