Wants to Help Others Who Struggle with Alcoholism
Candice is struggling with alcoholism and has been for a long time. She’s 28 years old now and has been drinking since she was 14. She admits, “It’s gotten bad and DHR has 2 of my kids.” She doesn’t want to drink anymore but still ends up drinking. She doesn’t understand why. She recently went to rehab. During her time there, she felt the Holy Spirit move, and felt all the angels praying for her. Since that spiritual experience, she sees people and their sin more clearly. She doesn’t just see them as people getting on her nerves but sees them as people with sin who she can pray for specifically regarding what they are going through.
Candice feels a strong desire to help others in their struggles: “I feel like I can help people because I’ve been through a lot. I feel like I can help someone else that might not even be as far as I am. I’m not where I should be, but I’m not where I used to be either.”
Candice is asking us to pray for her strength to fight this alcoholism that keeps calling her. I shared with her Genesis 4:7b, “Sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.” Candice wants to know if she can still help people in the position, she’s in; even though she’s not ‘fully recovered’.
Who is Fully Recovered?
If you wait until you are completely clean on an issue, you’ll be waiting a long time to help anyone. Reaching out to others and telling the truth, saying, I’m still struggling with my own addictions, but this is what I’ve learned. This is what happened to me. I’ll pray for you, and you pray for me. This is a powerful way of helping people and helping your own sobriety.
Peer to Peer: What Do You Think? Can Candice Help Others?
Candice is looking for advice and prayer. Can she help someone, even as she fights the pull of alcohol at the same time? Absolutely! We got some great peer to peer feedback from Bailey, Tina, Cindy, William, and Kyle. Whoa, some of these Rockstar’s know the Bible so well and they shared lots of scriptures with Candice as well as spot-on advice!
Share Your Testimony
Bailey has advice for Candice, “My sister was an alcoholic and thanks to Jesus Christ, has recovered. Praise God! In the experience I’ve had, telling your story/giving your testimony is the only way to know there are other people in your shoes. She’s really going to touch other people’s lives and I’ll think she’ll be surprised, as she learns and grows, how many other people are going through what she’s going through. My encouragement is to find a church home and stick with it because you are on the right track and you have what you need, which is God.
Pray Affirmations Over Your Life
Tina says, “The struggle she is going through is not unique to her. When she talks about how she’s caught between the dark and the light, the apostle Paul had the same struggle. He said, there were 2 things that warred on the inside of him. This (Paul) was the person who wrote 60% of the New Testament and he had a struggle. It’s important to understand, the struggle happens when you try to hold onto the things you are not supposed to hold onto. Like Bailey said, when she gives her testimony, she’ll realize how many people she can help as the Bible says, “They overcame by the word of their testimony.” The enemy will try to silence her, but the Bible also says, “life and death is in the power of the tongue.” One of the things I do is pray affirmations over my life and Candice should pray affirmations over her life. I read these scriptures which affirm the Word over my life:
- 1 Peter 1:23, “For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.”
- Ephesians 1:7, “He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.”
- Hebrews 9:14, “Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.”
- Colossians 1:13-14, “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.”
- 1 John 1:9, “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”
There are a lot of affirmations she needs to do. When she begins to speak these over her life. The bible says, He will write the Word on the tablet of your heart. She needs to get into the word of God and daily, because the Word of God is the bread of life. When you read the word of God, it’s what God is saying on a daily basis.”
Deal With the Real Reasons You are Hurt
Cindy agrees with Tina and shares, “I grew up in a family of alcoholics. They drink to bury pain. They drink because they hurt. I think if she goes after the real reason of why she’s so hurt inside. She’s shoving hurt back down inside every time she wants to drink or there’s something that’s triggering the urge to drink. She’s wounded inside and needs to deal with the hurt and she needs healing. It’s better to be filled with the Holy Spirit than it is with wine. If she can surrender her struggle and go to the cross, she could be totally free. When she is totally free, and applies the Word, she will be able to minister and help other people as well. She doesn’t have to be bound because, Jesus will set her free.”
We Aren't a Failure in Christ
William shares that Christ still loves her regardless of her failures. “The biggest lie comes from the enemy is that we’re a failure to God when we make mistakes. My failure was that I backslid on God and went back to alcohol. We aren’t a failure in Christ. The Bible says, a righteous man will fall down seven times, but he’ll get back up. Paul said to God, I have a thorn in my flesh, but God told him His grace was sufficient for him. God loves you, Candice, regardless, of what you’ve done wrong, what you’re battling with. Keep your head up and fight the good fight of faith and lay hold of what God’s called you to do and there’s somebody that your supposed to help.”
Get a Sponsor at Alcoholics Anonymous
Here’s Kyle’s awesome advice: “I’ve been an alcoholic myself since I’ve been 14 and I’m 26 years old. I’m going on 9 months of sobriety. I was able to do that through AA. It’s very important to get into Alcoholics Anonymous. You can find a location near you or a building downtown for it. Once you get into AA, it’s very important to get a sponsor. In those moments where you have urges to drink, you just give them a call. Find someone you admire, someone that has the same traits as you and that way they can be your sponsor. I’ve had moments where I wanted to take a drink and it’s been eating at me. I got down on my knees and prayed. It was amazing, the urge to drink the alcohol went away. Pray the serenity prayer, over and over if you have to, whatever it takes, as long as you don’t drink. I found when I take myself out of environments where there’s a lot of alcohol involved; it keeps me from drinking. I’m a sober person now and closer to God. I was able to take the mistakes I’ve made and turn them around and become closer to God. I’m now the person I was meant to be. I encourage you to do the same.”
Did Today’s Episode Get You Thinking?
Addiction to alcohol is keeping Candice stuck. She wants to help people but is not sure if she can. She’s had an experience with God but is feeling the conflict of God’s call on her life as well as the dark calling to her. The awesome part is that Candice is recognizing the struggle and talking about it. She’s allowing the truth to come out and allowing others to speak truth into her life. She needs to get into AA and get a sponsor (thank you Kyle!) and she needs to get Team Candice around her so that she can have support to resist the pull of alcohol. In James 4:7, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Candice must resist as the temptation of alcohol tries to keep her stuck.
What advice would you give Candice?
If you’ve faced an alcohol addiction and have advice for Candice. Please share in the comments below!
Resources for Alcoholism Recovery:
You can recover from addiction. Start down the road of recovery by downloading our free eBook: Understanding Substance Abuse.
Also, check out my blogs on Addiction Recovery:
- Addiction Recovery: Warning Signs of Addiction
- Addiction Recovery: What to Do After a Relapse
- How to Break the Silence: I’m Afraid to Talk About My Addiction
- Healthy Self-Care for People in Addiction Recovery
You Have a Purpose:
If you are using alcohol to mask your hurt and pain, you are not alone. These verses of Hope will help you cope and understand substance abuse and God’s love for you: Verses of Hope for Substance Abuse.
Need to talk to someone? Chat with a HopeCoach at TheHopeLine.
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Remember, whatever you do, Never Lose Hope!
