Savage About Sobriety March 3, 2023

11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.[a] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” - Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NIV)

These are some of the most hope-inspiring, promises in the Bible. When I read these words, I can hear God speaking over me that everything is going to be all right. It's nice to know I have a Saviour who doesn't care about my past and has my future planned out with nothing but great things in store for me.

Many of you are like me and have lost everything to drugs and alcohol. Personally, I've lost everything multiple times. I was stuck in an endless cycle so many people get stuck in. You know the cycle...strung out, lose everything, sent to prison, get sober, released from prison, do good for a little while, relapse, rinse and repeat. When you give drugs and alcohol a blank check on your life, it not only bankrupts you of your relationships and possessions, but it leaves you alone, empty, and hopeless. Hopeless is a dangerous place for addicts to be in for long. Being hopeless can lead to using more drugs and alcohol and can end with depression or a person taking their life by suicide. When a person doesn't have hope, life takes on a dark look and giving up seems like the only solution.

That's why Jeremiah 29:11-14 is such an amazing set of scriptures. Knowing that God cares about your future and has even made plans for you (vs. 11) should be the best news any of us have heard today!!!! All we have to do is pray to Him and He will hear us (vs. 12), seek Him and we will find Him when we seek Him with all our hearts (vs. 13). This should be music to the ears of anyone beat down, broken and hopeless due to drug and alcohol abuse and we aren't even to the best part...God will bring us out of captivity and restore us back to the place we were before we were taken captive (vs. 14)!!! This is a promise that all recovering addicts can draw hope from. I spent too long being a slave to my addiction. Being held captive by my drug use.

When I got clean last year, I never dreamed in a million years that the relationships I had taken for granted could ever be repaired. Relationships with my kids, my parents, my siblings, friends that I had wronged in my addiction. I gave my life to Jesus and He started doing the work for me. One by one, every relationship that I thought was completely destroyed has been restored. All I had to do was start praying and seeking God, just like Jeremiah said in the above verses. It does take us turning away from the sins that hold us captive and turning back to the One who can set us free.

No matter what you have lost to drugs and alcohol, God can restore or replace it. Let Him do a work in your life by accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour and watch the miracle turn around He will do for you. If you already know Him as your Lord and Saviour, then start standing on the promises in your Bible. It all starts by doing what Jeremiah tells us to do. Pray to Him and seek Him with all your heart, then He will bring you back no matter how far you've wandered away. He will restore you!