Happy Outside... Struggling Inside: Daily Preoccupation
Thursday, December 14, 2023
Living Free Every Day®
A ministry of LivingFree.org
Today's Scripture
"God is good, a hiding place in tough times. He recognizes and welcomes anyone looking for help, No matter how desperate the trouble." Nahum 1:7 MSG
Thoughts for Today
Becoming entrapped by life-controlling issues is generally a four-stage progression through experimentation, social use, daily preoccupation, and finally using the substance or practicing the behavior just to feel normal.
When we move from the social use, or practice stage, into daily preoccupation, we start to lose control and break the self-imposed rules we set during stage 2. The behavior or substance becomes the center of our lives. We look to it for comfort and relief. We begin to feel the pain of addiction, and our life enters a downward spiral of deterioration. Our delusion grows deeper until we no longer recognize the truth.
Consider this . . .
Does this sound like a hopeless situation?
Perhaps you have reached this stage of a problem in your life. Or maybe you have a loved one who is trapped by a life-controlling problem. Finding the way out of this despair might seem impossible. And alone, it probably is. But you are not alone. And your loved one is not alone. Jesus is with you, and he loves you unconditionally . . . a love so great that we can't even comprehend it.
Will you turn to him today? Receive his love, his forgiveness, and his guidance. He won't let you down.
Prayer
Father, thank you for your promise to help me in tough times. I realize now that my situation is hopeless without you. Please forgive me and help me. In Jesus' name . . .
These thoughts were drawn from . . . Living Free by Jimmy Ray Lee, D. Min. and Dan Strickland, M. Div. This updated version is presented in two parts. It offers information for anyone who either has a life-controlling problem or has a loved one with a life-controlling problem:
Part 1: Learning to Live Free
- Defining Life-Controlling Problems
- Mastered and Trapped by Issues
- Walls of Protection
- Family Influences
- Helping or Harming?
Part 2: Helping Others to Live Free through Small Groups
- The Small Group Strategy
- Effective Facilitation and Communication
Launching a Living Free Ministry
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