Addicted Christians...Are you one of them?

She is lovely; her smile lights up a room. She has impeccable taste and dresses fabulous. Not a hair out of place. Makeup? She wears it but she doesn’t need it. Exercise? She doesn’t have to. She has a great shape. She loves the Lord and prays everyday. I can’t think of a time she refused to help someone in need. Everyone who meets her loves her, Unfortunately, this lovely creature has a secret, she is, “addicted to prescription med’s!”

I was told that America consumes more meds then any other country in the world. WOW! I am not talking about street drugs; I am referring to medications prescribed for pain, anxiety or sleep disorder. Remember the popular radio broadcaster who was busted for doctor shopping and illegally using “Oxicoten?” (A powerful opiate, prescribed for pain). This famous man was using up to thirty (maybe forty, wow) of these opiates a day and functioning in the public eye without a trace of his addiction being detected.

Everyday, more and more people are becoming addicted to “med’s” These precious people start out with an injury, anxiety or they can’t sleep at night, they receive scripts for a medication to relieve them. Unfortunately, drugs can give you a feeling of “euphoria and well being.” So what starts out, as a relief for pain, restlessness or sleeplessness becomes daytime “high!”

Let me give you an example of what can happen. Sarah, a hard working housewife, (who is trying to balance a busy schedule,) is on her way to pick her son up after his soccer practice, she is late and has a dinner engagement. She approaches an intersection, it’s a yellow light and it appears clear. So, she takes it. Bam! Sarah is taken to the hospital; she is shaken up and has whiplash. She is sent home with a prescription for a strong opiate for pain, a sedative for sleep and an antidepressant for the anxiety. Quite a load, but at the time it is needed. I emphasize, AT THE TIME.

For days the pain med helps tremendously, the sleep aid helps her to sleep because she is restless and of course the antidepressant is working on her nerves. all seems to be well. Sarah is taking the med’s according to the Doctors instruction. After a few weeks she notices that the pain is better. At her next visit her Doctor informs her that he is going to take her off the strong stuff and give her something different. Sarah goes home and takes the new med. It doesn’t give her that same feeling; in fact she feels less energy, and what about that, “all over warm feeling” that the pills provide, she wants that back too. So she calls her doctor and complains about the “terrible pain” she is still experiencing, (she’s lying and she knows it), but she can’t help herself.

Her doctor refuses to give her the strong opiate, so she goes to another doctor and gets it. Now, the energy is back and she feels “good” again. Each morning Sarah sits and counts her pills, if she is short or her supply is low she panic’s. So she will “doctor shop” to find a replacement for the doctor who refuses her pain pills. This once vivacious woman is now falling into the life of a “med addict.” Her family is beginning to worry, her friends see the change and she is oblivious to it all, the only thing that matters is the drugs, they have taken over her life.

During the day, it’s codeine, with an added buffer of antidepressant. At night she takes her sleeping pills to slow her system down. It is a vicious circle and Sarah is caught in the middle. She tells herself, its for the pain, it’s needed, she can handle it……….but can she, can anyone really control the power of the drug?

Drug addicts don’t live a full life, it is cut off where the addiction starts and it is heartbreaking. I have dear friends that are drug addicted due to an accident or injury that put them on the medicine. When you confront them with their “over the top” use of the med’s, they will go toe to toe with you and swear they are not addicted and they are in constant pain.

Let me be clear here, pain is not pleasant and at times unbearable. So the next best thing is to subdue it by way of medicine. This stuff can be very powerful and seems to make all our problems go a way, FOR THE MOMENT.

I am not saying that medicine is bad or that someone who is hurting badly hasn’t the need for medication to help them get through the day.

I am addressing the ones who know that they are not in that much pain and need the drug more then the relief, their body hurts because it wants the drug, not because of injury. Addiction is a debilitating sickness and it is a thief and murderer. It sucks the life out of people and steals their joy and home and family and often their livelihood.

There are some good, god- fearing Christians that are addicted to medications and making excuses to stay that way. They want to have their problems solved by taking a pill and they are deceived into believing that the pill will always be there to take the edge off and get them through. But the truth is, that eventually the effects of that drug will damage other areas of their lives, mentally, physically or emotionally.

There are some that want to be free but don’t know where to start or just can’t muster up the strength to do what needs to be done. A lot of precious people have lost friends and family because they have changed so much and become totally sold out to drugs.

Are you addicted to med”s? Do you “doctor shop” to keep up your habit? Is your life ebbing away? Do you know you have to stop, but don’t know how? It starts by admitting your need to be free!

I want to take this opportunity to reach out to you. Think about the meds that you take. Are they necessary or do you need them to cope with life? For a time they may be very helpful and some people truly need them… however, the addicts to prescription drugs are the people that I am appealing to. No matter what type of med’s you are addicted to; there is a way out.

For years I was addicted to drugs, hard drugs! I was what the world referred to as a “hopeless drug addict!” I lived and breathe my next “fix,” my world revolved around it. I was deceived into believing it made life easier when in fact it was destroying me. It got so bad that I would take too much. More then once I turned blue, people would panic and leave me lying there and run out. I was so bad that the average drug addict, refused to get high with me. I was a risk. So people gave up on me, “she’ll never change, she will die,” they would say.

But a “man who loved me more then I could ever imagine” whose name is Jesus Christ, saw past my faults and saw my needs. Years of hurt and brokenness had brought me to this place where being high was all I knew. I needed a supernatural power to work a work in me. When I surrendered myself to that great power my life was drastically changed forever. I was able, by His love and strength, “in me”, to stay away from the temptation. He aided me and after a time it became easier, thank God!

I am not a special case; there isn’t anyone that is exempt from God’s loving and delivering power, no one!! He wants all to be free, but you have to give your life to Him completely and trust that He is able. And He Is!! You need to let go and let God and then get away from the temptation that surrounds you by making a clean break, if a rehab clinic is needed, do all that you can to get in and get help.

Here are weapons that God has provided for you to fight your way out of this cloud of addiction and give you strength on the inside and faith to keep on keeping on.

Read the Word of God daily and apply the Blood of Jesus!

There is power in prayer

Exercise Faith, God can and will, SET YOU FREE!! THE DEVIL WILL FIGHT YOU ON THIS, BUT JESUS CHRIST IS GREATER AND FAR MORE POWERFUL!!.

I promise, if you make a decision and seek His delivering power, you will see a huge difference and soon you will, like me, be telling the world, "whom the Son set free, is free indeed!"

I am here for you, if you need us call the number listed to reach this
ministry………….or email me at the address provided on my website.

3 comments:

John Kazda said...

Carol, I am a Physician Assistant and I have been practicing for 16 years. I am also an Elder at the church that my family and I belong to. As a prescriber of some of these meds, I am very careful to monitor my patients that are on them for acute pain. Unfortunately, many providers don't. Christians and non Christians alike all have that same receptor in our brains that get turned on by these opioids and tricks the brain in to believing that it needs the substance to live, and it becomes almost impossible to stop taking them, hence.. addiction. Let me stop with the medical terms....I have seen that when the believer is serious about wanting help, and calls on the name of Jesus, He is so faithful to deliver. I have seen it many times. So I encourage you precious saints of God... there is hope and it is Jesus. Thank you Carol for your wisdom and concern for all of God's people. Your testimony and all your teachings have blessed many people including myself and my family. God bless....John

Theresa R said...

Dear Carol,
some time ago you prayed over me while I was weaning my self off of ativan using valium by a doctor, at that time I was also a smoker an an alcoholic...You have taught me how to seek after G_d His son, His spirit and His power, Today I live drug, alcohol, and smoke free and work helping to set others free from these bondages, I cannot deny His power in my life and my testimony and His blood continues to have me overcome all that the enemy tries to put on me..Thankyou for your sacrafice of time and love...In Yeshuas Name Theresa

Amy said...

Carol, I met you when I was a teenager at Teen Challenge in Deland,FL.I got saved the day I heard your testimony.I experienced the power of God in my life he completely transformed me but a few years later I married the wrong man and fell away now I'm addicted to methadone I'm in a program now but it feels very hopeless that I will every be at a place close to God. I'm just walking day by day praying for deliverance. Love Always Amy