Addiction is so severe because it blinds the person under its influence. Other people can see clearly the problem, but the addict refuses to acknowledge it.
Sometimes, family members are blinded because they don’t know how to face the truth, or they just learn to adjust to life with its presence, normalizing its effect. Others are in situations where they don’t know how to live without the addict’s support – emotionally or financially, thus they feel forced to comply with addiction’s harsh demands.
When cycles are created, it takes intervention to disrupt them. Intervention challenges wrongful behaviors when circumstances are out of control. It accompanies a sense of urgency that something must change. For an addict, an intervention is meant to be a “wake up call” to cause them to face reality.
If you are contemplating this process but are scared of the risks and don’t have the knowledge, we’ll begin to walk you through various options. But it won’t replace the need for professional help at some point for certain situations.
The Purpose of Intervention
If you’ve ever watched TV shows about interventions, you’ll immediately think of a super dramatic scene. An intervention can certainly involve a specific and established event as we will discuss later. However, what we are going to establish in this material is that true intervention is instigated in the heart, and initiated by God’s power, not human strength. Its purpose is to allow God to intervene in someone’s life, which goes beyond anything we can perform. However, we can partner with Him and simply do our part as He allows.
The truth is that intervention isn’t an effort to control someone to do or act a certain way. It’s a confrontation of truth, done in love, that lays out objectives and boundaries in the relationship. It deals with reality, even though reality might be uncomfortable.
We will be learning about intervention in a deeper, more systemic fashion simply because a change of behavior will not fix everything immediately. Most families believe that once the addict stops using the drug or behavior of choice, everything will be fixed. But in truth, the drug was merely a symptom of far deeper issues. In fact, without recovery, that person may act similarly even without the addiction.
Thus, while the intervention begins due to compulsive behavior, it needs to follow a pathway where the heart can be changed and influenced by God Almighty. Only He has access to the heart and the resources to permanently change human beings.
Educating Yourself with Facts
To help you get started, you want to begin to learn more about the nature of the addiction your loved one is facing. This can be terribly unnerving, especially if you avoided it from fear. If you are dealing with a person who is abusing drugs or alcohol, it’s critical you learn the specific nature of what that drug does. If you are dealing with behavioral addiction such as anger or sex, you’ll need to understand that there is much more happening than simply the manifest behaviors.
Addiction is compulsive behavior that changes the brain, affects the entire body’s ability to stabilize pain and mood, and disrupts the ability to be in healthy relationships with self and others. It is a spiritual and soul sickness of the heart that places the mind and body in bondage.
You may have varying beliefs regarding the nature of what addiction is, and if you don’t know, you may be setting up unrealistic expectations.
For example, many Christians see addiction as a moral choice alone. They say the addict is sinning and needs to repent, and they don’t look beyond that.
By understanding and researching the scope of addiction, you may learn facts and information that is above and beyond your own understanding.
Addiction isn’t just one thing – it’s all encompassing. However, as Christians, we believe the root of addiction is a sinful stronghold initiated by a demonic agenda that preys on personal areas of weakness, hurt, vulnerability and pain. Dealing with it as sin alone isn’t enough because there are typically deeper rooted issues that need to be offered as a solution for true healing to occur.
Therefore, like any battle, it’s vital to know what you are fighting against. ____________________ isn’t their addiction, they have an addiction and it is replacing who they are. Thus, you need to arm yourself with the facts.
Action Step:
- What addiction am I facing right now?
- Do I understand what that means in a factual way? How can I learn more right now?
- Are you willing to crack the door and pursue information specific to that addiction? Do that right now!
