Step By Step
For years I struggled with two hidden addictions. Most of the people around me didn’t even know they existed.
I would be able to stop for weeks, even months at a time, but then the addiction would rear its ugly head again. Especially when I stressed out.
I took those matters to God. I begged and pleaded for Him to take them away. I prayed for Him to deliver me. I cried for Him to break their hold on me. All to no avail.
God didn’t want to discuss those particular issues. Instead He wanted to address a different addiction in my life. He wanted me to cast my cares on Him.
I have been a worrier all my life. I worry about everything from money issues to people issues to what might happen in the future.
I believe my worrying is innate. I believe I learned how to worry while still in the womb.
God wanted to discuss my worrying, but I wanted to discuss those two addictions. In fact, He is still dealing with me about casting my cares, but those two addictions? They are gone!
Do I still have the opportunity to be tempted in those areas? Yes! But do I take it? No. Why? What changed? God took the struggle away.
What took me thirty years of begging and pleading and white-knuckling, God took away in a matter of hours. In His timing. Not mine.
Some of our addictions, our bad habits, are broken in “the blink of an eye” by God while others require us to “went.”
Some people that Jesus healed, such as the woman with the issue of blood, were healed instantly. Others were healed as they went.
Their healing took time. Little by little, with every step they took, they became better and better.
Some of those addictions and bad habits in our lives require us to “went.” They require us to get better little by little, one step at a time, rather than to be miraculously delivered.
For me, my addiction to worry is a step-by-step process. Cast down one thought. Replace it with the Word. Cast down another thought. Replace it with the Word. I have to repeat the process until it becomes second nature to me.
Practice makes perfect, so I have to be careful to practice what the Word says.
As God told me, just this morning, we have to practice being the person we want to be before we can become that person. We have to practice being the person God wants us to be. The person He called us to be.
About The Author: Annagail Lynes is an inspirational writer from Phoenix, Arizona, who uses her writing to encourage others. She asked Jesus into her heart at the tender age of nine and loves to share what God has done in her life. Her writing has appeared in various online and offline publications, including You!, Christian Home and School and Writer's Digest.
Her books are available at http://www.annagaillynes.net/bookstore.html
Used books, videos, DVDs and tape series for sale:
http://www.annagaillynes.net/usedbookstore.html
