Are you of the mindset that believes your road to redemptive, restorative recovery from alcohol must be the same as everyone else's, or it won't work?
WHAT IF IT'S NOT TRUE?!
What if you're setting yourself up for continued failure because you're walking down a path that was never meant for you to step on?
Maybe God wants to treat you as the unique individual He made you to be. He created your inmost being and knit you together in your mother's womb (Psalm 139:13). We are His children, according to Romans 8:16-17, so would you not agree that as such, He knows everything about us?
Perhaps God wants your story to be different, because in today's world, it's entirely possible hurting people are looking for someone JUST LIKE YOU, someone who fought the same spiritual battle you're in, and overcame it in perhaps unusual ways.
In an episode of the popular TV series "The Chosen", a few of the disciples were arguing about how to go about doing something Jesus had called them to do. One of them observed that 'it's never been done like that before', to which the other replied, "Get used to different."
I'm saying the same thing to you: get used to 'different'!
Consider the story in 2 Kings 5 about Naaman, a successful Army commander of King Aram.
"Now Naaman was a commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy." - 2 Kings 5:1
Leprosy is a painful and unsightly, highly contagious skin disease that still exists, according to the World Health Organization (https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/leprosy). While it is now curable, back in Old Testament times lepers were considered outcasts of society and weren't allowed anywhere near anyone until they were pronounced 'clean' by the priests. They literally had to live outside the city gates far away from everyone.
Speaking only for myself, when I was enduring the darkest times in the throes of what I call 'alcohol prison', inside my soul I felt like a leper: dirty, unworthy, not fit to live among humanity. I was, in fact, so ashamed that in my dysfunction, I learned to hide not only my drinking from everyone, but also my guilt, shame, despair and always the worst for me - self-loathing.
Back to our friend, Naaman. His wife's young Israeli servant girl implored her to have him go to Elisha the prophet for healing. Long story short, when Naaman arrived at Elisha's house, Elisha sent a messenger with the prescription for healing. Check it out:
Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed." But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Parpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage. - 2 Kings 5:10-12
Naaman's servants proved wiser than him, more or less asking him if the prophet had told him to do some "great thing", would he not have done it? In other words, just because Elisha's instructions were very simple, it didn't mean they wouldn't be any less effective.
Pride will nail us, every time!
Sure enough, Naaman went to the Jordan River, dipped into it seven times as Elisha said. The Bible says his flesh was restored and "became clean like that of a young boy".
In my experience, I discovered many things - some helped, some didn't. It was only when I reached the end of myself, "self" got out of the way and Spirit filled its place and led me to the right steps for me to take.
And one December night, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, "Enough. e-NOUGH!" And I knew in that moment that I was healed, whole and no longer the prodigal daughter.
I don't know much, but I do know this: I was once addicted to alcohol. I was once the worst of sinners with regards to idolatry by turning to alcohol for just about everything at the end, instead of God. What started out as an innocent perceived solution to help me fall asleep turned into a full blown nightmare. In my mind, hell can't possibly be worse than being in alcohol prison (but we know it would be). God, in His infinite mercy and grace, led me out of the longest, most difficult spiritual battle I've ever fought in my life, in HIS perfect time and in HIS perfect ways ... for me.
I will never tell anyone how to find freedom from alcohol prison, because I'm nothing but a sinner saved by grace. Only God knows what you need, and only God can provide, what you need. And, He will.
Do yourself a favor and get alone with God your heavenly Father every morning. Confess and repent all known sin, ask for wisdom and protection during times of temptation, and for His divine will to be accomplished in your life.
Oh.
And do whatever He says, when He says it, regardless of how crazy it may sound.
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your says my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. - Isaiah 55:6-9
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