Absurd Addiction Thinking

Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the LORD will destroy what you have made.” And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish. 2 Chronicles 20:37

I can do it my way. I’ll get away with it. I can take whatever I want and avoid the consequences. I don’t consciously think those things, but that’s how I behave in my addiction. In my addiction, I do whatever I want, defying God, and I hope to just walk away. Which, of course, is madness. But that’s the disease of addiction, right? There’s no logic or reason. Once I’ve given into the appetite, I’m no longer in control, but rather, the drug is making the decisions and not surprisingly, the drug makes terrible decisions. To anyone watching, It’s absurdity. No one gets to use and abuse drugs and walk away unscathed, yet, in my addictive thinking, I tell myself I can.

I’ve got to think King Jehoshaphat was guilty of similar diseased thinking in today’s passage. As King of Judah, he’d once allied himself with King Ahab, a wicked king of Israel, and paid a heavy price. He repented but later returned to his foolishness and once again allied himself with Ahab’s wicked son, King Ahaziah. Forgetting God’s first painful lesson, King Jehoshaphat now schemed to build a fleet of ships with King Ahaziah for economic gain. God said no, but Jehoshaphat acted as though he could defy God, which again, is madness. God simply destroyed the ships because he’s God.

The lesson is simple. We don’t get to defy God. If he says no and we do it anyway, it’s going to hurt. We don’t get to use drugs, indulge in porn, eat gluttonously, or live greedily, and walk away unscathed. When we go our own way, we may tell ourselves we’re getting away with it, but just like King Jehoshaphat, the consequences will eventually catch up with us. Thankfully, the opposite is true as well. When we abandon our way to follow God’s, we find life, joy, and peace. Daily, the choice is ours and what our tomorrow looks like, depends very much on whether we follow God or ourselves today.