Just Give Up!
Our greatest heroes persisted while suffering the anguish of persecution or repeated defeat. Abraham Lincoln lost 8 elections, failed twice in business, and suffered a nervous breakdown before being elected US President. He never gave up! Sir Winston Churchill rallied British spirit during weeks of blackouts and nightly bombings with speeches like this: "We shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender!”
As kids, our parents echoed the great statesmen. Whether we were pulling weeds, practicing the piano, or trying to get a memory verse to stick when our zeal had tapered off, they'd say, "Don't give up! Don't quit before you've conquered it!" That may be good advice in the garden, on the practice bench, and when reciting, but it guarantees failure when in hand-to-hand addiction combat with the devil!
The groundbreaking Center for Disease Control (CDC)-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE) proved a cause-and-affect relationship between childhood trauma and adult addiction. Most Americans (61%) have at least one Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE). A child with four or more traumatic events is five times more likely to become an alcoholic, 60% more likely to become obese, and up to 46 times more likely to become an injection-drug user. Without personal and group therapy for their traumatic childhood experiences, a person may work very hard to get and stay sober, only to find other addictive behaviors eventually replacing the drugs and alcohol. These might include compulsive overeating, gambling, sexual promiscuity, or any other compulsion-driven behavior.
Dr. Daniel Sumrok, Director of the Center for Addiction Sciences at the University of Tennessee's College of Medicine is among the first 106 physicians in the U.S. to be board certified in Addiction Medicine. The ACEs he has found to produce adult addiction include: [1] physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, [2] physical and emotional neglect, [3] living with a family member who's addicted to alcohol or other substances, or [4] who's depressed or has other mental illnesses, [5] experiencing parental divorce or separation, [6] having a family member who's incarcerated, [7] witnessing a parent, sibling or caregiver being abused or humiliated, [8] experiencing a family environment with angry conflict including shouting and threats, [9] bullying, [10] racism, [11] living in an unsafe neighborhood, [12] involvement in the foster care system, [12] homelessness, [13] living in a war zone, [14] being an immigrant, [15] moving many times, [16] involvement with the criminal justice system.
Who hasn't had one or more of those Adverse Childhood Experiences? Addiction science predicts that as American children mature, practically every one will be battling addiction and the devil for control of their life!
Battling? Is that the way to win? Even those who battle the injuries at their childhood core to a standstill have the pain resurface in another addiction! Battling doesn't bring lasting victory! Could Lincoln, Churchill, Mom, and Dad be wrong about "Never give up!" and "Don't quit fighting!"?
God prescribes the real solution: "He told me: 'My power is strongest when you are weak'...in order that Christ’s power will live in me. Therefore, I accept weakness, mistreatment, hardship, persecution, and difficulties suffered for Christ. It’s clear that when I’m weak, I’m strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10, God's Word)
Many kindergartners go through a phase when their answer for everything that requires effort is, "I can't." The adults in my life had a rebuttal for that. "Can't never did anything!" Yet, the power-from-Heaven approach to addiction requires just that--an admission of our futility! "I can't, Lord," unleashes the omnipotence of the God Family. "I quit. God, rescue me," uncuffs the mega-muscular strong arm of the Almighty.
Corrie Ten Boom's approach to the merciless Nazis at Ravensbruck is a better parallel to personal Christian victory than Lincoln or Churchill. She proved indomitable to the heartless guards only after admitting how anemic and powerless she was in the face of their murderous injustice. Then, she threw herself on the providence of God and perceived His intervention in a flea infestation which banished guards from her group's study and prayer over a scrap of forbidden scripture. She said, "I can't!" Then, God said, "I can!"
"In ourselves we are incapable of doing any good thing; but that which we cannot do will be wrought by the power of God in every submissive and believing soul." (E. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 98)
Lord, I believe. I submit. I can't. I quit. You take it, 'cause You CAN!
Your friend and His,
