Considering Addictions Part 2

Previously, I talked about the false expectations that we often have regarding addictions.  We seem to think that our repentance will be complete and we won’t struggle with old temptations.

The second thing I was talking with my small group from By Grace Alone was Satan’s agenda in their addiction.  We can mistakenly think that our addiction(s) is Satan’s end game.  But it is only a means to an end.  And what, pray tell, is that?

“Of course, Satan can attack by never ultimately destroy true Christian faith, because we are preserved by grace.  Therefore, he seeks to destroy our enjoyment of the grace of God. … But he is well able to destroy our assurance and our joy- our pleasure in the gospel.”

God intends for us to enjoy Him and His saving and sanctifying grace.  But the Evil One, unable to destroy that grace robs us of our enjoyment of that grace.  He has many tactics to accomplish this strategy.

“Satan is subtle enough to use even God’s holy law to accuse us of sin.  He stirs up remaining sin in our hearts, and then – once we are conscious of its presence- he begins to accuse us mercilessly.”

He stirs up the longing for our addiction through any variety of means.  It could be a longing to deaden relational pain.  It could be the longing to feel some pleasure in our pleasureless existence.  It could be the longing for refuge.  But as we struggle with wanting to fulfill that longing he turns around and accuses us of sin.  He condemns us and reinforces are identity as addict instead of child of God.

“The ‘art’ of Satan is his ability to produce sinister thoughts in the mind of the Christian believer.  … But ultimately, the most sinister thoughts that Satan insinuates into our minds are not enticements to sin but suspicions about God Himself.”

He does not stop with accusing us.  He also accuses us.  The heart of someone struggling with addiction is fertile soil for these seeds he sows.  Weeds or poisonous plants are all he can sow.  But sow he does.

His goal is to keep you from God.  The addiction is only one way for him to do that.  It creates a false god.  Your struggle is also used by him to cast doubt on Him.  How can God be good (or righteous) if He allows you to struggle like this?  He must not love you.  He shifts our anger from self or sin to God Himself.  He wants us to think that God is the author of our sin.

“Satan’s plan is to blind us to God’s grace and to diminish our trust in Him, crushing our love for Him and destroying all the pleasures of grace.”

This is one of the hardest parts about an addiction.  We too easily fall prey to Satan’s schemes in this regard.  Most addicts go through periods of depression and despair where they are angry at God for not completely delivering them from the practice of sin.  They forget He has delivered them from the penalty and power of sin.  Were they to delight in that, their heart would not become so bitter, their spirits so downcast, and their practice of sin so common.

So, though Satan can’t destroy you he can still work to prevent you from enjoying God and His grace.  He will uses addictions (past & present) to accomplish this goal.  He wants to keep you from seeking refuge in God.  You don’t have to let him.