No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
Giants We are in a war. Just like David with Goliath, we have giants attacking us on all fronts every day. They are out to get us at all costs and they are ferocious, relentless, and seem to be an insurmountable challenge to defeat. They are bent on defeating us first. Some common giants are addiction, anger, anxiety, depression, fear, rejection, and even comfort. We cannot fight these giants in our own power, but our heavenly Father is a giant slayer. He desires for us to be free from our giants and in His power, we can be free.
The Giant of AddictionAddiction is a big giant and covers many different aspects of bondage we can find ourselves in – over eating, drugs, alcohol, pornography, sex, shopping, social media, and on into infinity. An addiction is anything in your life that has power over you. Webster defines addiction as a compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; or a persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful. It doesn’t seem like some of the things listed above fit into this category, but I assure you they do. Shopping may not have a physiological symptom when I control myself, but it does produce some very harmful side effects in my life when I overindulge to numb my feelings. And I do – it is one of my favorite ways to forget what I am really feeling about everything going on in my life. It makes me happy and it makes me forget. And that is a sin.
Addiction is a short-term fix for emptiness and pain we feel in our lives. It makes us feel even weaker because we know the truth that others can’t always see – I need thisto deal with that. I am a weak person, I don’t measure up, I can’t do this… We feel like we have to cover up – cover up our insecurities, cover up our pain, cover up our weaknesses and vulnerability. But we are only covering them up from ourselves, while only exposing ourselves even moreto the rest of the world. An addiction will, if not quickly, eventually expose everything to the rest of the world. It consumes you until there is nothing left to hide behind.
When we have an addiction, we can do one of two things. We can either cover it or take it to the cross. We can tell the rest of the world that we are fine and don’t need any help, or we can bow at the foot of the cross and lay it all down. We can boast in our weakness and trust in His strength and give Him the glory for slaying the giants in our lives. God’s grace is sufficient – when we are weak He is strong. David was weak, but God conquered that giant through him. He was just a boy. He went out with no armor and only a slingshot and a rock. Countless men had been killed already by Goliath already – with a full suit of armor on and a shield to hide behind. When he became weak, God was strong, and Goliath fell.
Addictions are powerful, but God is more powerful. It is really about making Him the Lord of our lives. Anything we allow to have control over us, or to be greater in our lives than God can become an addiction. When we elevate God to the position of our lives that He deserves, He will be above all and over all. Only through His power can we overcome the things in our lives that threaten to take His place in our lives.
