Addiction is a difficult and complex phenomenon affecting people all over the world. It’s a challenging subject for many families, and the sheer power of addiction’s stranglehold can leave its victims feeling alone and hopeless. But whether the addiction is to drugs, alcohol, gambling, or any other vice, those suffering ultimately have one source of support: God.

God is present in every aspect of life and He provides His love and support to those dealing with addiction. Regardless of faith background or current circumstances, God loves each and every one of His children and desires for them to live their lives to the fullest. But just how does God intervene in the life of an addict? And what hope for healing can be found in God’s presence?

God understands the struggles of addiction. In the Bible, He speaks of healthy boundaries with the substances we consume. “You have no idea what your life will become tomorrow,” He says in Proverbs 23:20-21. Here, God urges us to use moderation and control when it comes to our addictions so they don’t control us.

God also provides us strength and courage to overcome our want to turn to our vices. In Phillipians 4:13, He says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” When struggling with the overwhelming power of addiction, addicts can find hope in God’s words of comfort. He will be the strength they need to fight the battle and come out on the other side.

Additionally, God provides individuals with the opportunity to receive encouragement and healing through church communities and support groups. Local churches, in particular, can be very influential in helping those with addictions find recovery and peace. Fellowship programs, addiction counseling, 12 step programs, and prayer meetings are all offered by many churches. These activities can be invaluable to individuals on the path to recovery, as they provide constructive guidance, insulation from temptation and harm, and much-needed love and understanding.

At its core, God is a loving creator intent on granting us the freedom to live our lives fully and joyfully. He provides us with hope, acceptance, and freedom from our addictions by reminding us of His call to live with love and mercy. Addictions can be an incredibly difficult path to follow and treatment may seem impossible. But with forgiveness, grace, and mercy God can turn our lives around. True recovery comes through God and His unconditional love and when asked to walk the path with us He is there every step of the way. God is in the midst of addiction, offering hope and healing to those who struggle.

For many struggling with addiction, it may seem like healing and recovery are impossible. But, with faith in God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, healing can be achieved. God is the great healer and can bring us the power and strength needed to overcome an addiction. God can also offer us the peace and assurance that our lives will never be the same.

In order to begin the healing process, it is important to begin to believe in yourself and to recognize your own power. Once you have this belief, you must also recognize that you have the power to pursue your healing. You must recognize that God is the ultimate source of healing and ultimate protector, so you must rely on Him to help you overcome any obstacles thrown in your way. Through perseverance and dedication, you can be victorious in your fight against addiction.

God’s strength and power come to us by way of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the comforter that promises us that God will be with us every step of the way. The Holy Spirit can help us to renounce unhealthy behaviors and instead replace them with positive, healthy behaviors. It is through faith and trust in God that we will feel His presence and receive the comfort and strength needed to heal from our addiction.

When it comes to healing and recovery, it is important to take ownership of your own behavior and make a commitment to put your trust in God to get you through. The recovery process can be a difficult and sometimes painful journey, but with faith in God, healing is possible. Additionally, having a sense of purpose and meaning in one’s life can motivate and empower those in recovery to keep pushing forward.

Additionally, having a supportive social network, such as family and friends, can offer comfort and encouragement during the healing process. These people can both listen and provide advice during difficult and trying times. They can provide support and accountability, as well as help to remind those in recovery that they are never alone.

When it comes to healing from addiction, God’s power and guidance are essential. It is important to recognize that healing and recovery are possible, and that with faith and trust, you can make it through this difficult journey. Once you recognize the power that God has to offer, you will gain a newfound sense of hope and faith that healing is not only possible, but is incredibly achievable.

At times, life can seem challenging and downright overwhelming. We all experience moments of deep depression and struggle. It’s during these challenging times that faith can help us move forward from our past and find deeper meaning and peace in our lives.

All faith traditions have principles that can help us move through periods of difficulty. We often think of our faith in religious terms, however, faith in something greater than our own small selves is important in times of crisis. Whether we look at faith as a belief in God, a Higher Power, the Universe, or even simply in the inherent goodness of people, faith allows us to look beyond our current struggles.

There are several ways to use our faith to help us get through challenging times.

Be patient: The power of faith is often tied up in our willingness to be patient and trust in something greater than ourselves. Have faith in life’s ability to take care of itself, and don’t be afraid to take steps in line with your passion and values. Each small decision we make can lead us in the right direction, little by little.

Be humble: Humility is an important component of faith that can help us handle tough times. When our egos get in the way of our faith, we can become too proud to ask for help or listen to the guidance of others. Paying attention to our feelings and being open to advice from other sources can be helpful.

Exercise faith: Taking small actions in the direction of our dreams and goals is important. Faith prompts us to look beyond our immediate successes and failures and tap new sources of power to help us move forward.

Spend time in Nature: Nature can give us a deeper connection to faith. Visiting a park, going for a long walk, or taking a swim can help refresh us mentally and physically. Inspiration often lies in the simple beauty of nature, and faith in that beauty can give us courage and strength.

Hold tightly to faith: When life seems overwhelming, we can reflect on our faith and core beliefs. No matter how tough things get, remember that faith in a Higher Power and in the goodness of people can help us heal from our struggles.

In times of difficulty and distress, having faith can be an immense source of comfort and strength. It allows us to move through our fears and anxieties and find a greater purpose in our lives. The power of faith can make us feel empowered and we can take the lessons of our struggles to become more spiritually, mentally, and emotionally well rounded.

The best way to combat addiction is by trusting God and not relying on your own prowess. One of the reasons why people find it hard to defeat addiction is because, they have not come to realize that it is only God that can help them.

This is similar to the rat-race that people run in life, when they feel they can handle everything on their own. Eventually, they will come to realize that it is only God that can help them make the best out of life, and not based on their own powers or abilities.

Trusting God in fighting addiction is a simple act which people have complicated. When you trust God, it implies that you have handed over everything that concerns your life. This means that your wins, challenges and the likes, have been placed in the hands of God for him to take control.

In addition, trusting God with your addiction means that he alone has the capacity to help you pull through. So, even after opting in for addiction treatment, God is wholly responsible for facilitating the whole healing process.

In trusting God, you need to ensure that you are fully in tune with him. You need to make sure that you step-up your personal time with him. Continuous prayers of sanctification and consecration would be offered to ensure that it builds up your faith to properly trust God for the best.

With time, you will understand that God has taken over the fight, so all you need do is watch him see it to completion. It should be known that God is not a magician, an addiction case would require seriousness and willingness from your end.

You can be sure that the road to sobriety would be much easier with God on your side, because he is not one who would leave you alone. If you feel like relapsing, he would be there to hold your hands and see you through.

Addiction can affect anyone irrespective of your status, and one of the ways to combat it is to draw closer to God. A good number of Christians suffer from addiction and it is not because they are not spiritual, it is because they have not fully handed over that aspect of their lives to God.

This is why, when the addiction cravings set in, they find it very difficult to fight against it, because it has overpowered them. When they satisfy their addiction cravings, they become very bitter about it, and they ask God for forgiveness.

Such Christians fall in and out of addiction, and it becomes a continuum in their lives because they have failed to fully consecrate their lives to God.

Addiction gives a feeling of worthlessness, it makes the believer feel as if they are no longer in tune with God, and this is not true.

Addiction only strains the fellowship between God and the individual, it does not affect the relationship.

It is important for addicted Christians to turn to God and ask for his mercy in defeating addiction, because this is the only way they can truly draw close to God, and become one of his favorite sons.

At the initial stage, it would not be easy, owing to the seemingly overpowering nature of addiction. However, in due time, the individual would discover that addiction is nothing compared to the power of God.

It is up to the individual to realize that defeating addiction is not an instant process. It takes a lot of spiritual inputs like prayer, worship, thanksgiving and a host of others.

When these acts are offered daily, the individual would realize that his entire being is under the process of total consecration to God, and addiction becomes a thing of the past.

God is ready to help anyone who wants to deal with addiction, and the only way to fix this is to ask him for mercy and he will help you.

Breaking the chain of addiction is not an easy task. Many people have made attempts individually to do so, but they often end up relapsing. Addiction recovery centres have stepped in to save the day. However, turning to God during times like these ensures that recovery from addiction is made much easier.

You would also get to discover that the withdrawal symptoms which are common with addicts, would be easy to surmount, since you have committed all to the hands of God.

First and foremost, you need to come to the realization of the fact that, addiction is a sin and it is something which God frowns at. Hence, there is a need for you to seek repentance from this sin. Breaking free totally from sin, is something which can happen in an instant. It is a gradual process which eventually ends with total submission to God.

You need to come to the understanding that, sin is responsible for the addiction, and it has a way of ensuring that you are separated from God, thus missing out on certain benefits which comes with being in touch with God. As an addict, it would seem as if your life is upside down, and there is no one to turn to.

However, God is our heavenly father, he loves us, and he is aware that we cannot break free on our own. His arms are opened wide, hoping that someday, we would come running back into them, just as the prodigal son returned to his father. God is ever willing and ready to help us escape addiction, the problem has always been with man, as we feel we are capable on our own.

When you draw closer to God as an addict, light is directed on your path, and you begin to realize that your sense of purpose is heightened. At this stage, you would realize that you have been missing out, and with time, your recovery from addiction would be quicker than expected.

Irrespective of the extent of your struggles, you can be sure that God has got you covered. He knows all about it, he cares and it is his utmost desires that you break free totally.

Substance abuse is a phenomenon that plagues every corner of society, with no regard for demographic. People are drawn to overusing or harmfully using substances for a variety of reasons, even to the point of requiring treatment or rehabilitation, but many similarities can be drawn between individual cases of substance abuse. And though substance abuse and addiction share many attributes, the differences between them are quantifiable.

First of all, there is more than one kind of addiction. There are physical addictions, where the body and its chemical processes have become dependent on the substance to function. This form of addiction creates withdrawal symptoms such as sweating and shaking when the substance is not ingested, and creates a tolerance within the body against the pleasurable affects of the substance, requiring an increasingly higher dosage of it with every use. The second type of addiction is a psychological one, which makes the addict feel and believe that they cannot function without the drug despite having no chemical dependence on it.

Addiction may form due to the method the substance is being administered. For example, drugs that enter the system through needle injection, such as meth and heroin, are more addictive than drugs that enter the system slowly, such as marijuana smoked from a pipe into the lungs or cocaine snorted onto the nasal membranes. Dependence and tolerance set in simultaneously to addiction, making the method of ingestion a critical determining factor in the transition from substance abuse to addiction.

The individual’s personality and chemical make up play a major part in how quickly they may become addicted to a substance. The term “addictive personality” is used to describe this type of individual, but in truth it is an array of things, chemical, environmental and behavioral, that can make a person more predisposed to addiction than others. For some, an addiction may come on slowly and progressively. For others, it can feel like it set in over night.

For Christians and other people who believe in God, addiction can shake a person’s faith to their core. Addiction does not seem to belong in the same world as one a perfect God created, and our minds balk at how separate the two concepts are. It is true that addiction does not belong in the presence of God, but despite the pain and ugliness of addiction, God is very much real through out it and wants addicts to turn to him for recovery.

It is common for addicts to reason that God cannot be real because a loving god would not allow for something as devastating as addiction. This is a common misconception about the nature of God. People assume that because God is all powerful, he is responsible for everything we experience. This stance negates all responsibility we have over our own lives. God, in his perfection, does not encroach upon our free will. He restrains himself from taking our freedom from us. We misuse our freedom because we were created to depend on God, which is the reason that addiction exists.

Another misconception is that addiction is more real than God. In the midst of addiction, this can feel very much like the truth because addicts are far from God and consumed by addiction. Addicts struggle to feel God’s presence because essentially they are living to serve their addiction rather than serve God. Whatever we choose to serve becomes our reality and the center of our lives. The choices we make to worship false idols rather than worship God, our creator, are the very thing that drives us from his presence.

The bottom line is, whatever we choose to surround ourselves with and immerse ourselves in will consume us. Giving God control of our lives will surround us with his goodness, grace and love, while giving addiction control of our lives will surround us with despair, heartbreak and regret.

Having faith in God’s goodness and perfect plan can be very difficult in the midst of addiction. Many struggling addicts find themselves asking questions like, “Where is God in all of this?” and “Why would a perfect God create me to be so flawed?” These are natural thoughts when one is caught up in the despair of addiction because addiction is not from God. Addiction entered humanity when we declared our independence from God, giving the enemy a foothold into our lives. This is why we experience feelings of brokenness and shame over addiction, and constantly wish there was a way out of it.

The feeling of brokenness one goes through during addiction can be devastating. There are few other conditions that inspire such profound despair within a person. This is because it is very difficult to find your way out of addiction once you are in its clutches. The longer you entertain it, the harder it is to break away from. No two cases of addiction are the same. Some addicts are surprisingly functional, holding jobs, raising children and staying active, while others are consumed by it and may become homeless and isolated. In both situations, there are people who consciously decide they cannot defeat their addiction and surrender all hope of recovery. This always comes with feelings of shame, which the addict chooses to live with.

Even addicts who yield their lives to their addiction want a way out of it. Even if it is more subconscious than conscious after many years of struggle, an addict never stops wishing for recovery. This is because addiction is a prison sentence – a cruel and controlling master – and it is natural to crave freedom from it. It is also natural to wonder why God does not do something about addiction, but the same person must also ask themselves if they have given God control of their life so that he can make change happen within it. God will work miracles in a person’s life, but a person’s life is still their own to mislead if they have not surrendered it to God.

Understanding where God fits in to addiction can be confusing for many people. It is the nature of addiction to replace God in importance in the addict’s life, or to elevate their addiction to a god-like status. When their addiction fails them and proves detrimental to their life, some people hold God responsible for the pain addiction caused them. Clearly, the role God plays in addiction is widely misinterpreted.

The truth about God and addiction is the same truth found in every painful life circumstance: God will not do away with it because that would be inhibiting our free will. God’s careful design of our human condition includes the necessity of our free will, either to obey him or to obey our own desires. God commands us through his holy word to obey his direction, not for his benefit, but for ours. We do not have the foresight, scope, strength or wisdom to control our lives. We were created to submit control to our creator. Those who succeed in this lead lives of incredible peace and reward. Those who do not lead lives of frustration and despair. It does not matter if our good fortune is rich or poor; it matters that we are in accordance with God’s will, because it is mankind’s intended form of existence.

Having a church family to lean on while recovering from addiction can greatly influence the way a person perceives God, thus influencing their addiction recovery as well. Many people who have experienced success in their recovery from addiction have a strong relationship with God and with a church community. This has proven to be an incredibly positive influence.

Canadians who are struggling with addiction and need a church family to surround them and pray for them in the midst of their trials can find churches in Edmonton, Toronto, Mississauga, Vancouver and virtually every sanctioned Canadian city.

To learn more, go to http://www.edmontonchurch.org/