Why Sobriety Isn't the Same as Peace

Most of us didn't use drugs because we wanted to party. The thing is that something on the inside of us was broken, missing, or even hurting. We thought that drugs would administer peace when in reality it was just a way of escape. Today, we're going to be talking about how peace can usher in restoration for you and your relationship with Jesus. Because I know for myself personally, I struggled with realizing that I was worthy enough to be called a child again, even though I had a messed up past. Justin, today I want to talk about peace, man. what does that look like in the believer's life? But more importantly, what does that look like in the life of the individual that has come from an addiction past? Yeah. when you brought this topic up, I just immediately Philippians chapter 4 that hit my mind. And obviously this is the peace verse, right? One of the many. But Paul goes starts at verse 4. Philippians 4:4 says, "Rejoice in the Lord always." And again I will say, "Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand." Verse 6, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." is I love the order there. there. there. You hear what I'm saying? Cuz he says, "Be anxious for nothing. Prayer and supplication with thanksgiving." thanksgiving." thanksgiving." Like we're giving thanks before the request has been answered. And I think a lot of times we end up in this state, and I know I get there even now, man, like of anxiety and anxiousness and peace disappears because like you're praying and you're not seeing it happen yet. And so I think there's the struggle for those in recovery, especially early in recovery, 6 to 12 months, fresh out of a program or just doing this thing for the first time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The progress doesn't come that fast at the beginning, right? right? right? that's what they say. It's 10 years into something, you become an overnight success, right? right? right? And I think that's something that yeah, the scriptur is pretty clear on, . Well, it makes me think about how we have a misconception of what peace actually is. Yeah. And yes, peace to us is everything's going to be copathetic, right? It's going to be calm. Does it mean everything's going well, right? And I think that's the false reality that we have in this world, right? That's why Jesus says, "The peace I leave unto you. The peace I give unto you. Not as the world gives unto you do I give unto you." Right? And so God's peace is completely different. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because his peace is meant to restore the soul back into right relationship with him. And I love what David said amidst his failure with Bashibba. He said,"Lord, restore unto me the joy of whom your salvation." Yeah, that's great. And so, we don't think that we're able to be reconciled back into relationship with God. And so, we were chasing after drugs when in reality, we wanted to chase after peace, right? We're looking for peace. And so, so how do you compare and contrast that real quick for people like the world's peace versus God's peace, right? Like on a surface level practically speaking like what does that look like? What does it look like? when you juxtapose those two things together, you immediately what comes to my mind is that the world's peace is self-seeking. Okay. Okay. Okay. Right. And so it's all about self. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. How could I be satisfied? Whereas God's peace, right, is his grace essentially where there's nothing that we can do to earn it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. That's good. It's it's been given unto us. It's it's something that we have to be willing enough to realize that we have to surrender the very thing that we've been holding on to, right? Our addiction, our past failures, right? The track record that we have, the identity that we've been been given by the world, right? And so when we surrender these things, then we're able to receive God's peace. Because I heard this one time before when I was in my program, a gentleman said, God's math is not like our math. Right. Right. You have to subtract in order to add. Right. Yeah. And so I think sometimes, man, the reason why we don't really receive the peace that we're seeking after is because we're trying to supplement it with things that are fleeting and don't truly satisfy. Right. Yeah. No, that's good. That that is like the math of ministry, right? like 10 lepers healed, one comes back, right? right? right? what I'm saying? It's always the world would expect that everybody would show up and give gratitude. And that's where Paul slips in that thank thankfulness in there, right, into that passage of scripture. for those who aren't too familiar with the scripture, Paul's a guy who had been through some things. Like if you read through Paul's life, his entire journey started like when he was persecuting the church and then like obviously getting knocked off the horse, but then suffering after suffering. And this is a guy who wrote many of his letters from jail. jail. jail. Yeah. And it just brings it brings a sense of assurance, man. Yeah. I think the thing is, man, like if I'm even personal, if I'm honest with the statement that you made about Thanksgiving, I'm in a season right now, just been blessed with a house, right? Like finan financially, I'm in a a good spot. things are going well, right? But my life seems chaotic right now. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because I'm pursuing this ministry with you. I'm doing the thing, if you will, but yet there seems to be a void because it's like I think to myself, if I obtain this or I accomplish this, therefore, it's going to give me the ultimate peace, peace, peace, right? right? right? And so, let me be clear to the listeners that are viewing this right now. I still struggle. That's why this podcast is called Rebuilding Life After Addiction. There are some things, there's some skeletons, if you will, that are in my closet that God is surfacing up, but allow me to realize that he just wants me to be satisfied in him. I love what John Piper says. John Piper says, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him." Right. Wow. Yeah. No, that's good. No, I'm I'm right there with you. when you go through I posted a video about this a couple weeks ago. When you go through seasons of transition, it's the uncertainty. It is the part of like I should know in my I should know mentally that God's got me right but in my gut something doesn't feel right and so it is that in between stage right that's like okay Lord why is this taking longer than I think it would so it's almost like is Jesus in the boat right because there's the storm Jesus are you in the boat with like what do you not realize what's going on right now Yeah. Like you called me to ministry. You called me to serve your people. Yet there's a storm going on and you're over here sleeping. Like I need you to calm the storm right now. And he's "Hold up." Like do you not realize who's with you in this moment? I sent you that text a few days ago about that. It's like the storm came as a result of being obedient, obedient, obedient, right? right? right? Jesus told them to go to the other side. And so they were in the place of obedience when the storm hit them. And so it's like obedience doesn't always mean that we're not going to have chaos or storms in our life. A lot of times it's our obedience to the Lord that actually brings about chaos because in the worldly sense like obedience to God disrupts our lives, lives, lives, right? right? right? And and yeah, so dude that's so good. That's awesome that you brought that up because it's I our pastor actually was talking about this piece today and so shout out to you Zack. I really appreciate you and just the work that you're doing there at Grace Covenant Church, my second family. But, yeah, man. I think something that we even talked about at our church recently was the book of James, right? Count it pure joy, brethren, when you face trials of various kinds, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience, letting patience have its per perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Everything is centered around Christ, right? When we start living a life outside of Christ and start pursuing things other than Christ, right? Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all things be added unto you, we are essentially saying these things are going to give me something that Christ can't give me. When in reality is that the only thing that we're going to find is hidden in him. Right? But the thing is that we've been so programmed by culture and society to believe that Christ is supposed to deliver the same exact peace that this world's offering. And it's so misleading in so many different ways, right? And so what do we do when we come to Christ and he doesn't give us it's like mama bear papa bear, right? If I go to my dad and my dad doesn't give me the answer that I want, what do I go to the mom and say, "Hey, will you give me the" And then mom ends up, caving in and saying, "Yeah, I'm going to give it to you." But the reality is that "No, you guys are not on one accord, right?" Yeah. I was going to ask, let me ask you something on that because the life of somebody in addiction is chaotic. No peace, right? There's absolutely no peace in there. And so for the for this for the individual that's lived that lifestyle, lifestyle, lifestyle, like it can chaos feels normal. Mhm. So, so what happens there like that whole renewing of the mind thing to be able to really because even for the addict like things can still be burning down like when I'm early in recovery things can still be chaotic but it feel like peace to me because I really don't know what peace is what I'm saying and so how does that process shift for the individual coming out of addiction like to really get a good sense of what real peace actually looks like right? Because yeah, just not doing drugs feels more peaceful, right? right? right? But the rest of life can be chaos, ? And I think it's being okay with not avoiding the elephant in the room. And what by that is when shame arises because you've messed up some relationships because of your addiction, right? right? right? Or when your past gets you when you're filling out an application for a job and you have to check and mark that you're a felon. and so there are some of these things that come up. And so what we end up doing is these things become a reminder for us. And rather than us coming to the father and saying, "Lord, I need your help in this moment," we end up going back to the bottle or back to the needle or the drug of choice and saying, "I need you to numb this for me because it's too much for me to bear in this moment." Right? Right? Right? And so I think it's it's learning how to turn, right? This is an act of repentance. turn from the way that we used to think and say, "Okay, I'm not in this alone." Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. God's peace is going to see me through this storm. Right. Right. Right. That's good. And so, I think it's hard for us to see that at moments, even in my own life, I think I have this fear because I never went to college. I did some college, but because I never went to college and I never accomplished a lot of things. Anytime anything that's out of the ordinary is presented to me, I secondguess my ability to be able to do it because of my past. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And no, I don't turn to drugs, but I allow that to me and keep me in the position that I'm in rather than pursuing it in faith, right? right? right? what I'm saying? And so, I think it's challenging for a lot of people like will be "Oh, I can't do that anymore." Or this is not me. I don't have it in me. it's not possible. you don't understand my story. You don't know my past. It's "No, we know your past. He knows your story. And that's why he wants to use you. That's why he's called you out of the muck and miry clay to deliver you into a promise that you don't deserve." Right? And so, I think something's really important for us to realize is that God is able. Just like that sermon you sent me today, nothing's impossible with God, man. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. and Paul like in that same verse, he goes on to say that it's the peace of God which guards your hearts and your minds, . So, what does that look like? Yeah, that's a good question. No, no. mean, mean, how does he guard our heart and mind? what is it guarding it from? Yeah. Well, the concerns and cares of the world, right? that's the part where mentally we make that shift and like I'm not willing to sacrifice the life I have now to go back to what I used to have, right? And so the life that I have now is a result of the relationship with Jesus, right? And so understanding that like it is that it is the the consistency, the knowing that even when I don't feel the Lord, he's still showing up for me, like my salvation is secure, my identity is secure in him. All of those things that again, we learn early on, but it really takes time and discipline for those things to be established into our life. mental discipline, not physical discipline because you can't do enough to get there. You really have to train your mind to constantly go back to the source of life, for that type of stability. stability. stability. Yeah. So Justin, then how do I believe the truth of who I am now in Christ when people in my circle that are closest to me keep on bringing up my past? past? past? Yeah. I think it gets to a point though where that is a part of guarding your peace, right? Like we talk about it in the marriage concept. don't be un unequally yolked together. But I think that goes deeper than, what I'm saying, just marriage. I think that if you're constantly engaging in relationships and you've got people that are anytime you get near them, we talked about this in a previous episode where like the trauma, what I'm saying? The stuff that you've been through, like people can be a reminder of that, right? And so they may not even say anything to you, but yet pull you back to a place that you used to be mentally because you've got a lot of poor shared memories, memories, memories, right? right? right? And so the way that I did this when I first got out of the program was I had conversations with old friends, but the invitation to spend time with those old friends was inviting them into my new life, not allowing them to invite me back into the old life. But if you want to spend time together, my church does Bible study here. We go out to coffee after youth group, here, etc., etc. And that was how I guarded my piece. A lot of people never took me up on the offer, by the way. Like it's it's it's interesting, right? Something that my mother was able to do for me was she actually wrote out a list of I am statements. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And she allowed me to declare God's word over my life as a new seed to be planted within me. And what I didn't realize in those moments and seasons of my life was it wasn't me looking in the mirror and saying these things that I just transformed in that instant, but I was planting seeds into my spirit that would eventually reap a harvest later on in life. life. life. Right? That's great. So in those moments when I was challenged with those difficult circumstances and situations, I was reminded of the word of God. Right? And I think that's the thing is that we have to have the word to meditate on, to reflect in those deepest, darkest moments of our life as a reminder that his word still rings true in this moment even though it doesn't look like it. Yeah, that's good. No, and it's it's just that it is that reality that like I think whenever I whenever we get near Christmas, it's Christmas when we're filming this, we're a couple weeks away. I always think of the story of Jesus coming to earth, right? Right. like peace on earth, right? Goodwill to men. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. In the middle of a genocide taking place, place, place, right? right? right? Like in the middle of darkness, that's when the light chose to come, right? right? right? And so I think that we have to have an understanding of that like suffering and difficulty doesn't have to mean the absence of peace, right? right? right? Like suffering and difficulty can actually point us toward the true source of peace. And so I think sometimes we see some chaos happening around us or even feel a little off and can think that Jesus isn't present, but if we look back, even to the beginning of the story when he first came to earth, he showed up in the middle of all that chaos, right? And the same is true for you and where you're at in your life right now. Yeah. And he showed up to restore you. He showed up to redeem you. He showed up to deliver you. He showed up to give you hope and a future. And I think that's the promise. That's the truth that you have to choose to believe today. Often we choose to believe the former things, the past, the lies, and we're like Lot's wife. And we look back and we freeze when God's "Look at your future. Look what I have in store for you. Look at all the promises. If I've shared promises to the old, I can surely deliver those promises to the new, right? And I think that's a thing, man, that we have to remember as people is like God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, man. And he's still in the business of redeeming people and restoring people and so giving people hope. hope. hope. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And not to sound too simple or too practical, but like if you're not in the word, if you're not reading the word and learning from the Lord and hearing his voice, this whole peace thing is going to be a lot more difficult, right? Cuz unless you get acquainted like you can't understand how God's hands move unless you get acquainted with his heart first. Like you've got to understand the nature and the character of God so that you can recognize him when he's moving, ? And I think that's a problem a lot of people have like it's just surface level. Let me just, I'll hear a word here and there. I hear a preacher's interpretation of the word versus like really seeing what the Bible has to say about it. That's what Paul goes on in those verses. Philippians 4:8. Whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, whatever things are of a good report, meditate on these things, right? Make that time to meditate on the word so that it can come alive inside of you. Right? So, we learned some pretty practical things, right? We have to take off the old identity that we believed about ourselves and put on the new and that comes from a result of reading God's word, right? And what's what's two more practical things that you would say to our viewers and listeners? Justin, that they can apply to their lives in regard to welcoming or ushering in God's peace in their heart, ? Yeah. I think part of that though is also like not just welcoming the peace of God in, but being very intentional about evicting chaos out of your life, right? And so I think that's something that we welcome chaos in. She said evicting chaos out of if we're not intentional in doing that like again it's going to be like what is it? The thorns, right? And it's the word is going to get swallowed up by the cares of this world. So we have got to be willing to evict chaos. I think a lot of people like they want a marriage with Jesus but they still want to have the side piece. They want to the world, right? Like you posted because you're your dog today. That's the only reason I said that. But they want to flirt with the world like but I've got to start to evict chaos from my life if I'm really going to see the peace of God come in. That's awesome. Yeah. addition or yeah, addition or subtraction plus addition equals multiplication, right? And so that's that's what we want to do. We want to multiply. And so guys, I am so honored and thrilled to be able to share these podcasts with you. Justin and I have been working and laboring. We need partners. We need people like you to help support the page by simply praying for us liking, subscribing, sharing this with those that are in your circle. Maybe you even have a family member or a friend that's struggling with addiction. God is in the business of restoring souls and he can restore yours back to right relationship with him. We love you here at Rebuilding Life. hit the notification button. Hey, Hey, Hey, also just wanted to mention that down below the video, the shop is up and so these hats are available. We got one item right now, but we're actually auctioning off the one that he wears every single day. He doesn't go anywhere without that hat. I'm the only one that has one right now. So like it was Yeah, but yeah. You just click the link below and it'll guide you to the shop and it'll ship it directly to you. Cool. Peace. Love y'all. Peace.