Faith Filled Family Magazine August 2016 | Page 78

By Toni Troxell

A

ddiction is a topic
that has invalided
every home at one
time or another. The
newspaper is full of articles
from loved ones, friends and
coworkers having succumbed to
addition. Churches and professionals spend countless hours
with those who find themselves
at the end of their rope. The
stronghold of addition can affect
anyone and wreak havoc. What
does one do when addiction
plants itself at your door step
and refuses to leave? Half the
battle, and it is a battle getting
the right help at the right time
and knowing what steps to take.
We will look at one scenario and
offer a few helpful insights in
taking those first steps to healing and release.

The word addition means “the

fact or condition of being
addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity”.
Addiction can take many forms
- common addictions are drugs,
alcohol, sex and pornography.
Perhaps less noticeable would
be eating. Addictions happens
when an activity or substance
has the control. Picture this, a
man or woman comes home
from work and once again
they are intoxicated. You have
been waiting for hours with no
phone calls, worried senseless about their whereabouts.
You question them and share
your concerns that this has
become a major problem and
is now affecting the children
and the family. You are met
with resistance and sarcasm.
They cry “I don’t have a problem”. What now? Do you continue to ignore the problem
and hope it goes away or seek
help? It may seem strange that
the spouse of the addicted
spouse seek help, however
many times this is exactly what
needs to happen. Someone
has to bravely step up and
begin the process of recovery.

A good first place to start is
with the clergy of your church.
Often times the pastor can
offer resources to start you on
the road to recovery. Through
counseling and direction, the
clergy can often offer roads
we may have never considered. Another avenue would
be your local hospital. Many
hospitals and clinics offer help
for many additions and offers
help for the family as well.
Don’t be alarmed if you and
your family find themselves in
counseling too. This is often
necessary to help the person

battling the addition and for the
family to have a clearer understanding on how to help. Seeing
past the addition helps the family
help the addicted person. When
a person is fighting their addition we need to understand that
the addition is a stronghold and that stronghold has control.
When that happens a person will
make poor choices and can rip a
family apart. Learning that God
can help them break the stronghold is necessary to have victory
- 2 Corinthians 10:4 … “for the
weapons of our warfare are not
of the flesh, but divinely powerful
for the destruction of fortresses.”
We need spiritual weapons
along with the counseling to see
success. One such weapon is
the spiritual weapon of prayer.
Prayer changes people, things
and situations that people
cannot. It is important to remember that the focus of our prayer
is on the Lord Jesus Christ and
His healing power, and the content of our prayer is for healing.