Deliverance from alcoholic addiction

[Chrysostom]

The very fact that you have brought this burden to the church shows that you understand where true help lies, not in human resources, but in the mercy of God. This addiction to alcohol and tobacco is not merely a bodily sickness or a matter of lost wages; it is a fierce assault of the evil one, who as a roaring lion goes about seeking whom he may devour. He does not care about the wine or the smoke in themselves, what he craves is to use these chains to drag a soul into despair and to tear apart a household made in the image of God. Remember Job: the devil stripped him of flocks, herds, and even his children, yet he confessed that none of these losses were his real aim. “Take away his goods,” he said, “and surely he will bless Thee to Thy face.” That was the prize he hunted, a blasphemous word from the lips of a righteous man. So here, the enemy snatches at job, finances, and family peace not because he values these things, but because through them he hopes to force a cry of impatience or a curse against the Lord. Do not be ignorant of his devices.

Yet just as the theft of golden vessels can become a spiritual gain if we say with a thankful heart, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord,” so this present calamity can be turned into an occasion of victory. The addiction itself is a grievous evil, but whether it becomes a total loss or a hidden profit depends entirely on the response of the one who suffers. If he gives thanks to God amid the struggle, if he refuses to utter any rash word but keeps crying out from the depths, then the devil’s plot is undone. The blessed Job had exercised himself in patience before his trials came; he did not wait for the storm to build the house upon the rock. Even so, the man for whom you pray must now begin that training, however late. Let him fortify his soul with fasting, prayer, and the medicine of repentance, and let him shun utterly every occasion that draws him back, just as a man would flee from a serpent.

You must also be on guard against the voice of those who counsel despair, like Job’s wife when she said, “Curse God and die.” Evil communications corrupt good manners, and in times of distress a single word of faithless advice can push a soul into the pit. Therefore, let no one around him speak as though the case were hopeless or suggest that God has abandoned him. Instead, let your own words and deeds be a wall of friendship around him. Consider the early church, where thousands had one heart and one soul; that unity was a sweeter melody to heaven than any harp, and it made the faithful stronger than any tyrant with his bodyguards. If we who come to the same Table are truly one body, then we must bear one another’s burdens with such love that the tempter finds no gap through which to shoot his arrows. Do not merely pray in isolation, but let the whole community draw near, not to cluck their tongues in envy of the sober or in scorn of the fallen, for envy is a demonic thing, worse even than the spite of evil spirits, but to stretch out a hand to the one who is falling and to desire with all their hearts that he stand firm again.

Be persuaded that the labor you pour into this soul will not be in vain. The tempter may not know whether he will prevail, yet he dares to attack; how much more should we, who know that Christ has already conquered, watch and wrestle in hope? Bid your brother to cry out like the publican, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” and to cling to the hem of the Master’s garment. Encourage him to see that each resisted craving is a blow struck against the enemy, and each tear of repentance washes the stains away. We will join our prayers to yours, but let him also do his part, for we are masters of injuring or not injuring ourselves. The Lord permitted this trial, but He has also provided an escape. Naked we came into the world, naked we shall depart; let us not love the wine so much that we forfeit the kingdom. Instead, let us run with endurance the race set before us, looking to the One who in the world promised tribulation but also declared, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

 

[Silas]

The plea for deliverance cuts to the core of a deep struggle, and it echoes the ancient cries we find throughout Scripture. Addiction becomes a cruel master, stealing job security, draining finances, and shattering the peace of a household. It is right to cry out to the Lord for salvation from this, because only His power can break chains that human willpower alone can never shatter.

We often make the same mistake as Job’s friends, assuming that such severe calamity must be a direct stroke of judgment for some hidden sin. They looked at a man who had lost everything, his children, his wealth, his health, and concluded he must be a hypocrite reaping what he had sown. They told him, in essence, “Just get right with God and everything will be okay.” But their counsel was miserable because their diagnosis was wrong. A person’s suffering is not always a ledger line for a specific iniquity. The problem is, we live in a fallen world where the enemy seeks to devour, and sometimes we are caught in a storm we do not understand, crying out from the ash heap of our own pain. This man’s addiction is not necessarily proof of a darker secret than the one you have already named. It is, in itself, the very darkness from which he needs rescue.

The deep need in this situation is the very thing Job cried out for, a mediator, a "daysman" who could lay his hand on both God and man and bridge the impossible gulf. Job spoke about the horror of his own suffering and a longing for a place beyond it, but his words were the despairing cries of a man who saw no answer. We, however, know the answer that Job could only glimpse from afar. Jesus Christ is that mediator. He stepped into our brokenness, not to condone the sin that destroys us, but to break its power and provide a path to true peace. The advice Eliphaz finally gave was true in its direction, though not in its accusation: “Acquaint yourself with God and be at peace.” This man does not need to first cleanse his own life to earn God’s favor; he needs to come to God exactly as he is, in his filthy ruin, and lay hold of the words of life. That is where restoration begins, not with a perfect performance, but with a surrendered heart.

We will join our faith with yours, asking the Lord not only to silence the lying accusations that bring despair, but to reveal Himself as the strong deliverer. We do not understand all of God’s ways or why He allows certain thorns to torment us, but we know His ultimate desire is not destruction but redemption. We pray for this man to find the One who can save him with an arm of limitless strength, and that the fear of the Lord would fall upon Him, driving away every lesser fear and addiction. May the days of loss and horror be swallowed up by a new day of resurrection power, restoring what has been stolen and bringing a right relationship with God that overflows into his family and his work.