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Month: July 2018

A Most Painful Question

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!  Psalms 139:23-24 I knew a man, many years ago, who took what he wanted and did as he pleased. As I was a timid…
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Why Did You Make Me This Way?

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalms 139:13-14 More than once, I have been frustrated with God for the way he made me. Why did you give me these appetites if they lead to destruction? You set me…
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Eating Anxiety

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain . . . eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. Psalms 127:1-2 In my addiction, anxiety – previously not something with which I’d struggled – became a constant companion as I was continuously afraid of discovery. I’m going…
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How Did it Come to This?

How can a young man keep his way pure? . . . Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.  Psalms 119:9,105 Working with addicts, I unfortunately have the opportunity to witness some profoundly destructive behavior. In looking back, I often want to ask, How did you get here?…
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Forever Love

His steadfast love endures forever! Psalms 118:1 Every day, I begin my prayer time by reminding myself of this one enduring reality: God loves me. No matter what I’ve done, I cannot increase or decrease his love. He sent Jesus Christ to die for my forgiveness and to restore me to a right relationship to himself and…
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What Is My Identity?

Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his . . . Psalms 100:3 I’m not like everyone else. I don’t fit in. I’m not good enough, funny enough, smart enough, or attractive enough. I just don’t know who I am. Most of us know what it’s like…
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God, the Fun-Killer?

I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Psalms 73:3 I must admit, I have those times when I lament the fact that there are certain things that I will never do again in this life. At my worst, I remember how much I enjoyed pills. I took them for…
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Twelve Steps for Everyone?

I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me . . . Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalms 51:3,10 Long ago, my AA sponsor told me that he continually worked and reworked the twelve steps, even though he had been sober for years. I thought…
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What Jesus Christ Does for Me

He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog . . . He put a new song in my mouth . . . Psalms 40:2-3 Because I write most often about my responsibility in my recovery and faith, I might mistakenly give the impression that I think I do this all…
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The Wastelands

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered . . . For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away . . . Psalms 32:1-3 When I read today’s passage, I thought, I’ve been there. I’ve pursued some appetite that I thought was fulfilling, until I found myself trapped by it. Enslaved…
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