Finding Connection and Breaking Free from Addictive Patterns

December already? That was quick…but let’s get into it. Look, I get it, we all need to feel a reconnection with God and with people after we have done something wrong or been through a difficult circumstance. But if we don’t find that bond, we will try and comfort ourselves with something else, anything else, to numb the pain. Our addictions are normally a way of diverting and soothing ourselves. Bad habits can form when we are seeking deep connections but somehow don’t find it. We will go to great lengths to avoid pain, and will try lots of different things to anaesthetize ourselves from it. Overspending, misusing alcohol or food, entertainment, prescription pills, sex, and all manner of things are readily available to us as ways to avoid the hurt or hide from our problems.“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”Psalms 51:1-10 If we are honest, most of us have got deep-rooted junk in the trunk that easily triggers and brings our addictive patterns to the surface. I believe that if we can recognize this and treat it (with the help of God) we can learn to see those patterns coming and stop them from taking control.Ask God for help with the things that trigger your bad habits. I do everyday, it’s the only way I know to find the peace and serenity of His grace!Be nice. Grace wins.