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1 Co 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."
I just read an editorial regarding the 4000 overdose deaths in Canada last year. The writer a recovering addict of alcohol and drugs and an advocate of the 12-step program proceeded to visualize the nature of this statement in quantitative terms, such as a football field of body bags and then went on to condemn the lack of remedial work being done to help those who cannot help themselves. The only point I agree with in this piece was that we cannot help ourselves, we need a miracle and His name is Jesus!
Act 4:12 "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
That unfortunately is not one of the options this writer spoke about. Just how much people and governments are not doing enough to help these poor souls who just can’t help themselves. Sorry but as an x-several things and a born-again Christian I have already come to understand that only I can choose to seek help, that help needs to come from someone who knows me better then I know myself.
We have a couple in our church who live across the alley from a drug house with prostitution and all that goes with selling your soul for the drugs. They just saw their first OD coming out and its evident this is affecting the whole neighborhood. There are many good law-abiding families in this area that are having their families constantly under fear and bazar activities around their children and all we are supposed to do is feel sorry for these addicts that are not only destroying their own lives but those of everyone around them, because that is what sin does. It doesn’t just affect the person involved, but everyone that has to deal with the repercussions of their sin.
There is no one in jail that isn’t causing some grief to those on the outside. They may be sorry for it or not, but they very often don’t stop what they are doing to get into jail in the first place! It has always bothered me that every addictions program calls their perceived successes as a recovering addict. Sorry but I am delivered, set free by the precious blood of Jesus and so can anyone be who will just accept what our scripture says! Men cannot heal themselves, Jesus said as much Himself, but they also refuse the escape God grants them and then they have to blame someone else for their failure.
Just read fashion designer Kate Spades dad died of heart break and ill health on the eve of her funeral for her suicide. She never thought about all the people who would be affected and it’s all about poor Kate. Well there is an escape and it amazes me that many never seek it, they would rather choose to die in a very selfish way then to accept their failure and seek help from God, then its everyone else fault they are dead! Funny but if I choose to do things my own way and it fails why shouldn’t I be held responsible for my own mistakes, oh sorry evidently, I don’t understand!
That’s the point, I understand all too well. I have spent years and thousands of hours trying to help people on Gods terms and if they reject Him it is a matter of time before they die in their sin! Oh, there I go again with that whole judgmental thing!
1Pe 4:17 "For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?"
Until we recognize our mistake and take ownership of it there is no help, because we won’t admit we need help! The first step must always be recognition we need help.
We were all born into sin, can’t dodge that, yet that is exactly what people are doing when they turn to addictions. The root of all addiction is trying to escape something you can’t handle. The stimulus is to cover the hurt and at least try to numb it so its bearable, then the mediciant becomes the master. We can blame the lies of the drug makers, we can say how wicked the Fentanyl criminals are or how no one cares enough, but in the end, we don’t seek the real help, which is with our sin, oh ya I forgot, we are not allowed to admit we make mistakes!
The interesting thing about statistics is you can read them whichever way suits your purpose. No one is going to find information that contradicts their personal desire. As with the columnist it this editorial, giving her credentials to show her deep knowledge of the subject takes us to the emotional side again, this is personal, so of course I am on the right track.
The problem with just being sincere is you can be sincerely wrong and fight anyone who opposes you with your badges of credibility. The bible says there is none righteous, no not one. So, it’s not a matter of personal opinion, but rather a statement of facts.
-Fact, is we are all lost in one way or another without Jesus.
-Fact, it is appointed unto man one to die and then the judgment.
Judgment of what? What we did or didn’t do. Did we try to escape by Gods plan or our own. Every suicide is an open display of self-direction, but perhaps we should look at the opioids as more of a suicide by cop direction. Just like people get in trouble to get shot by a cop instead openly displaying their self-destruction at their own hand, 4000 opioid deaths show me the same pattern, its someone else’s fault, but it’s not!
Mar 10:45 "For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."
Heb 9:22 "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission."
The bible says there is only one cure for sin, that’s a life! A life for a life. The escape is to let Jesus pay the debt with His life and blood, rather then you are paying it with yours. Of course, you’re going to have to admit you need help, that you can’t do it on your own, you have to surrender to Gods will instead of trying to survive on your own. I close with this example, I can use it because I have almost died because of drowning when I was very young.
One of the things they teach life guards is once in a while you may have to use physical force against someone your trying to save. They panic and do things that will get both of you killed. You might have to knock them out to save them!
God is prepared to do whatever it takes to save us. We might not like what He uses to do it, but He is trying to save us from ourselves. He has made a way of escape and you may not want to take it, but don’t blame Him if you succeed in killing yourself because God has made a way to escape, you just have to take it!