So few results are obtained from drug or alcohol rehab centers because the odds are 84,400 to 1 against the addict.  There are 84,400 seconds in a day and each second requires the addict to decide whether “to use” or “not to use.”  All it takes to fail is to be wrong one time.  Addicts are trapped in a narrowing downward spiral so tight they can only see life a second at a time.  Even though most addicts hate themselves and the chemicals that keep them dependent, any thoughts of stopping bring such terror they intoxicate themselves with more chemicals.  The small percentage of addicts that do break out of chemical dependency do so by moving past the present into the future.  The rest are so consumed with the immediate they can’t see past the next opportunity to use.  They either don’t like where they are going or don’t know where they are going so they forever lock themselves in the present.

This is the same mental process that happens with the drunk driver.  He can’t navigate, plan, record, or control the course or the position of their automobile because they drive according to where they are instead of where they wants to go.  It is like trying to run 50 miles an hour staring at your feet.  Drunks don’t look down the road they look over the hood.

Don’t be too quick to point fingers at drug addicts or alcoholics as the dregs of society.  According to Jesus in Luke 21:34-36, overeating and worry are just as addictive and equally as destructive.  People afflicted with these either don’t like where they are going or don’t know where they are going. In either case, it is an excuse to inebriate oneself instead of facing the fears of the future.  Overeating and worry are indulgences that lead to the same place of death as chemical dependence: doubt in oneself and unbelief in God.

I have been hearing a great deal of pessimism concerning America’s future – from Christians!

The economy is going south, the war is going to be our end, the market is going to collapse, our infrastructure is falling apart, life as we know it is going to end, nuclear war is eminent, we are doomed!  Worry replays scenarios of death and destruction over and over again until we are absolutely intoxicated.  According to Jesus, overweight and stressed out people are just as drunk as chemically dependent people.  The doomsday preachers and news commentators are either ignorant of what the Bible says or don’t believe it.  No different than any other addict, they are so intoxicated with the present they can’t see the future.

I have always found the advice in Eph 5:18-20 to be especially profound.  Get drunk in the Spirit and forget about everything else. That doesn’t mean be ignorant of the times or stupid when it comes to money management or financial security.  It means to be filled with the Word of God, dependent on Jesus and addicted to His presence.

Jesus clearly says that if we don’t overeat, drink or worry we will qualify to escape everything the end times can throw at us (Luke 21: 34-36)!  In every generation since the flood there as been a remnant that has survived to inherit the earth!  Put the odds in your favor!  Stay focused on your purpose; don’t break rank with the Holy Ghost.  Walk right though the middle of everybody else freaking out, drying up, going bankrupt, or diseased without a scratch (Psalms 91)!  You can walk though the fire of the end times and without smelling like smoke (Dan 3:27)!  The next time you hear bad news about the future laugh out loud and say, “Praise God I am a Holy vessel chosen to fulfill my destiny in Christ and no devil from hell can stop me!”  “I am increased in a time of decrease to be a light unto the world!”   Relax and enjoy the ride, you are going to make it to a victorious end!

Rocky J. Malloy