Where’s My Mind?

FINDING REST AND FULFILLMENT IN JESUS, NOT DRUGS

If you had to picture yourself on an average day, what does it look like? Perhaps, you have found the pleasures of a midnight toke, a few drinks out on the town, or maybe you’ve decided to take a few hits, tabs, points, or another means to consume an “eye-opening” substance. There’s plenty of reasons for using drugs (drugs being anything including getting drunk that you take or use to alter your mind), so if this sounds like you—whether you’re running to or from something—I invite you to ask yourself why you are using these drugs.   

To clarify, substances were once my main go-to activity and I, too, eventually had to really ask myself the “why” of my drug use. Whether drinking, smoking, snorting, or eating—if it was offered, I probably did it, often in hopes of finding something more.  Nothing I ever used, however, provided a lasting fulfillment no matter how many times I’d try. Only recently have I found that fulfillment. Once I found sobriety, I discovered that the areas I had once tried to fill with drugs were being filled with something so much better.

So, is the joy and excitement you find in drugs providing you something that lasts; or, like dew that soon disappears, does it fade away as the sun rises once again? Simply speaking, no matter how much you consume, the effects are only temporary. Once you finally come down it’s going to take more to get back up there, but what if I told you that Jesus can take you somewhere so much better? Let me explain. 

Think for a moment of the best experience you ever had while on any type of drug. When you take out the visual effects or discombobulated movements from this experience, what we have left is the euphoric feelings of that high. Our spirits long for these moments of joy and euphoria, but in hopes to seek out the goodness of God (whether you recognize it or not) not some counterfeit goodness that the drugs provide. Ultimately, we always fall short and fade away because we seek these things out by physical means when the real solution is spiritual. We have a spiritual need that cannot be fulfilled physically through drugs, but only through a relationship with who we were made in the image of, which is God Himself. Jesus made it possible for us to be in relationship with and spiritually filled with God’s presence, which is far more spiritually fulfilling than any drug that you can consume—to this, I can attest.

“…We always fall short and fade away because we seek these things out by physical means when the real solution is spiritual.”

When we get closer to God, we can find Him entering our lives more deeply—changing our lives in ways we could never imagine—but this can only happen when we begin to rely on Him rather than the drugs we’ve been using.

God calls us to be sober-minded, not to limit us but rather so that we may flourish to our fullest potential as a part of His beautiful creation. Experiencing life with a sober mind is truly the way that God intended it to be. We cannot go about our relationship with God under the influence of drugs and expect to get everything God has to offer us when we cannot give our full self to Him. James 4:8 says, “Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.” Is your loyalty divided between God and drugs? If it is, now is the time to make a change.

When I initially began following God, I wasn’t completely sober, but was almost there. There were still some pieces that were holding me back from fully following God, and I’m not just talking about puzzle pieces. Within my heart, I felt a conviction that told me that I couldn’t continue using, to not even keeping my drugs as a “back-up”, and I had to make the decision of where my loyalty would fall—God or the drugs. Had I allowed myself to continue living in a space of being lukewarm between God and drugs, there was the risk of my heart becoming too calloused from enough times of saying “not yet” and end up becoming numb to what God was saying to me.

By getting rid of what is holding us back from God, we create space in our lives to grow closer to Him in unimaginable ways. You can then experience life in the way that humans were meant to live, which is with God. Jesus showed us how to do this as He, too, was fully human, just like we are. He showed us how to endure all circumstances—not by going to drugs or any other easy substitute, but to God. Fully surrendering your feelings to Him and acknowledging that He is there with you to love and help you, something that the drugs could never do.

I invite you to reflect and ask yourself whether the things you are seeking out in this life are really fulfilling you. If you’re willing to lay them down to find fulfillment that lasts an eternity and not just a lifetime, you’ll find true rest and fulfillment.