Last Sunday, I was that person sobbing in their car.
I stopped at the light by my house and saw a young guy wearing a T-shirt and no coat in -4C air coming down the sidewalk. As he passed by, I noticed the white bracelet on his wrist and realized he’d just been discharged from the hospital. Judging by the stare and the shuffle, it was for drugs.
This is actually common around here, but this time, I just started bawling.
That’s somebody’s baby boy. Not too long ago, that addict was held in someone’s arms and cooed over and tickled and sung to. Just like my baby.
Maybe he didn’t have a great home or easy life. But babies are precious. And witnessing the devastation of one by the maw of addiction should break our hearts.
Then, in the middle of my cry-driving, God hit me again.
We’re all addicted to something.
It doesn’t have to be drugs or alcohol.
It can be porn or food or exercise.
It can be praise or attention or control.
It can be religion or politics or being right.
It can be ourselves.
And we’re all His children. His babies. His precious loves that pull away from Him as we chase relief and comfort and thrills.
If my heart broke for a stranger, HOW MUCH MORE does God’s heart break for us, His creations, as we’re destroyed by our addictions, even as He calls our name and reaches out to heal us?
Whatever you’re addicted to, whatever you’ve given into trying to make the pain stop or make yourself feel worthy, He wants to set you free. You weren’t meant to live in that cage.
The good news is that it isn’t locked.
There is hope, there is strength, there is love―there is a good, good Father―waiting on the other side of the prison door. Step through, run into His arms, and find freedom.
“Let me be clear, the Anointed One has set us free—not partially, but completely and wonderfully free! We must always cherish this truth and stubbornly refuse to go back into the bondage of our past.” [Gal 5:1 TPT]