Is Your Mind The Source Of Your Misery

Proverbs 23:7
For as he [a person] thinks in his heart, so is he.

Many of my past experiences within the confines of group recovery meetings have been life changing and yet challenging at the same time. Sharing my past experiences with women who have also been through the same things was most certainly a challenge for me because my heart and mind had changed from what I previously believed and practiced as truth. I realized that I was merely surviving while I was living my life in addiction and I shared my thoughts with everyone within those group meetings. Other people would share what was in their hearts and I would sit there and listen to them and be in awe of what they were living with and struggling to get through. For some reason I had this strong desire to help them through their difficulties and problems, but I thought to myself, who was I to take on such a task when I was in the same group meetings seeking help as well. All I would speak about was how the Lord changed my heart and my mind, and how I wanted to live for Him. I wanted everyone in the group to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and I was going to slip His name into the conversation one way or the other. All I could think about was how am I going to get people to hear Jesus and had the nerve to think I could save them from themselves and their addictive behavior. Even in my own needy state I desired to point people to Christ. I wanted to meet their needs in spite of my own needs.  I had the right spirit, but I believe it wasn’t the right time. I had not yet been educated, equipped or empowered to operate in that capacity at the time. Even though we all shared the same affliction I believed I was being influenced by the Holy Spirit to be an influence to others, whether they wanted to hear it or not, which brings to me disclose why Proverbs 23:7 is the main reason why people recovering from addiction may be failing in their efforts to truly be free. So much of the negative things people in recovery go through and why they go through them is a direct result of their incorrect thought life, which is without a doubt connected to the condition of their heart. When you’ve lived a life that is fueled by a mindset that only says, “Get more, Do more” by any means necessary you have to understand that there has to be a drastic change in not only the mind of that person, but also in the heart of the person. I was only scratching the surface t that point of my life. Sometimes God will show us things that we feel are for the “Right Now”, but in fact they are for the future. Nevertheless, there are some people who have no idea what goes through the mind of a drug addicted person and some of those people would simply think that they can just stop instantly. Even some of the people within the church have no idea the kind of spirits that inhabit the hearts and minds of those who are addicted or are recovering from addiction. There are many people recovering from addiction that have not yet learned what type of thinking is good, acceptable and pleasing in God’s sight, and for this reason I have made it my goal to go to as many treatment facilities and transitional houses to share my story of what the Lord has done for me and through me by His grace. Believers in Christ are Ministers of Reconciliation and are commissioned by the Lord to go to unbelievers and plead with them to be reconciled to Him. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19) 

Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” Imagine having a conversation with a person who is fresh in recovery; you could hear their issues and see what has to be changed within them.  You first have to have compassion for them and tell them how it really is, whether they immediately receive and understand fully what you’re saying or not. You also have to be very attentive to what they are saying. You don’t have to be a counselor or have a PhD to assist in the liberation of another human being. Please don’t misunderstand me, I am in no way saying that professional counseling is not necessary in some cases, but what I am saying is that the Body of Christ have been given the power and authority to heal the hearts of people by ministering to them as well as praying and interceding for them. I have come to realize and truly believe that one plants, one waters but God gives the increase. 

(1 Corinthians 3:6-8) 

In other words, the two who plant and water are united in their assignment, but by faith they stand in hope and with patience that God will increase what they have sown in the lives of those people. I have experienced listening to the torturing life experiences of several young women in recovery and had to pray for them immediately. I could feel their misery, I knew what the enemy had planted in their minds, and I understood that the more they believed those lies, the more their heart would make it their reality. Only the Word of God can destroy that kind of yoke! I have to admit that there are some people who just do not want to be a part of this kind of ministry because it can take a lot out of you, but there is a scripture that I pull from when I get wearied by ministry. Philippians 3:10-11, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” I pray that those who are called to this type of ministry don’t get caught up in the Power of the resurrection alone, but embrace the fellowship of His suffering. You can’t experience one without the other. Well at least you shouldn’t. Ministry itself can be consuming when there is no balance and no constant communication with the Father, and we can become consumed when we don’t approach it in the order in which it was given. We don’t want to become miserable ourselves or become so busy in ministry that we loose ourselves and neglect our families in the process. I would rather you be productive and not just busy. (Being busy is bordering on witchcraft) 2 Thessalonians 3:11 and 1 Timothy 5:13. God is a God of order and he will lead and guide us into all truth. We must not allow our minds to tell us to do things that are out of the order of God, even if it involves ministry. We must be lead by the spirit of God and be very discerning because the Spirit leads us externally (the word) and internally (the indwelling of the Holy Spirit). Psalms 119:105; Ephesians 3:20; 2 Corinthians 2:9-13
So I pray that you will be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the works of the Lord,  knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord