08/28/2024
Think about this for a minute...
Thoughts/emotions can lead to behavior AND behavior also can lead to thoughts/emotions. It's a cycle where one can play on the other.
So, negative thoughts can lead to negative changes in behavior and negative behavior can lead to negative changes in thoughts or vice versa...positive for positive.
For example: "I'm too tired to workout" can lead to choosing not to workout because of being too tired...BUT...not working out can lead to more thoughts, such as "I'm so useless, I can't even workout." Which can lead to behaviors of guilt or shame and more of not working out ...see the cycle??
Okay now let's go back to COVID lockdowns and the uptick in SUD and the aftermath that is being delt with today especially in mental health challenges and SUD.
Churches were closed and yet liquor stores were able to stay open....
People were essentially told Jesus can't help you with your problems but alcohol can. HOW is this NOT straight out of the enemy's handbook?!?! Even Proverbs 28:28a says, "When the wicked take charge, people go into hiding."
Simply changing our behavior (the lockdowns) changed our moods. Anxiety and depression doubled and where were we to turn to for help coping with these increased symptoms?
We were literally thrown into chaos and made to 1.) figure it out OURSELVES and 2.) if we couldn't, then drugs and alcohol can be the fix.
First off, with Jesus, there isn't any "figuring it out ourselves" and second Jesus is the only fix we need. I know some will argue that but I just don't agree. There are SO. MANY. THINGS. that I've have tried to do on my own and failed each time. As SOON as I turn that over to God, I see change.
One example is my crippling fear of death. I struggled with that for YEARS. I tried to fix it myself with therapy, CBT, medication, and self medicating with alcohol... absolutely nothing worked.
Yes, medication and CBT played a role in helping, these are tools. The CBT was more effective in other areas of my life and the medication only masked the issue. Then, when I came to Christ...about four months or so into my journey one day I realized, "Hey, I have not thought about death in awhile." Then the more I paid attention to that...the more I realized that God had just taken that fear away from me.
Anyway...all this to say...We NEED Jesus, y'all! That hole in your heart is God shaped and nothing else will fit there, no matter what or how hard you try. Substances will NOT fix the way you feel. Turning to substance use is a negative choice that will lead to negative behaviors....so why not try a positive choice...that can lead to positive behavior?
If we've "been there and done that" and are STILL waking up in the AM feeling like absolute crap then WHY are we choosing to continue to go back to that?? Proverbs 26:11 tells us, "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness."
Maybe it's time to try something new?
Maybe it's time for Jesus?
