Savage About Sobriety February 15, 2023

"Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you." - 1 Peter 5:7 (KJV).

What are the things you care about? Your kids?....significant other?....your sobriety? All of the above? When I was in my addiction, the only thing I cared about was doing and getting more drugs. Yeah, I would say I cared about my family, and I really did up to a certain point, but when that certain point interfered with me doing or getting more drugs, the drugs won every single time. Now that I'm sober and I have my priorities straight, I should be free of stress, spending time with all the people I care ab0ut, and living the American dream, right? Not so fast.

"Living life on life's terms," is a familiar phrase a lot of us have heard repeated in the recovery circuit, rehabs, or institutional treatments. Unfortunately, with our new found sobriety, the reality of living life on life's terms involves responsibilities we neglected when we were in our addictions. Working a job, bills to pay, child support, appointments with probation & parole officers and/or treatment plans are just a few of the time consuming, and sometimes stressful demands that living life on life's terms require.

Many addicts, like myself, are caught off guard when life doesn't magically become roses after we leave the drugs behind. "Life" can be stressful and it requires a lot of hard work. The Apostle Peter understood this all too well. After the crucifixion of Jesus, Peter found himself trying to mourn the loss of Jesus, while also dealing with his own personal feelings of failure from denying Christ. Peter had the other believers looking to him for guidance and leadership, so I can only imagine how overwhelmed he must have felt trying to live up to the expectations Jesus had for him in Matthew 16:18, "...upon this rock I will build my church;" Peter no doubt had good days and bad days, just like you and me. Living up to those responsibilities and expectations is probably what inspired 1 Peter 5:7.

Peter gave us instructions on what to do when life gets to be too much and we feel like giving up......give it to God! I like how the New International Version (NIV) translates 1 Peter 5:7, "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." How do we cast our cares upon Him? By getting on our knees and asking for His help. God DOES care for us and He cares about the same things we care about when we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He didn't deliver us from our addictions to watch us drown in our sorrows. Just the opposite. He wants us to be shining like a light, not beat down and broken. Romans 8:37 (NIV) says, "No, in all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." Tell God about the things you care about. Tell God about the things that stress you out. He wants to hear about them because He cares for you.