Drug Rehab Options Blog

Monday, November 3, 2008

Enemy Tactics

I do so with Christ's authority for your benefit, so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are very familiar with his evil schemes.

— 2 Corinthians 2:10–11


The devil tends to use the same tactics over and over again. I suppose he operates by the old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

He has used these techniques, plans, and strategies since the Garden of Eden, and they have worked with great effect to bring down countless people. Therefore, he just keeps bringing them back, generation after generation.

That is the bad news. The good news is that we know what they are, because they are clearly identified in the Bible.

The devil is a dangerous wolf that sometimes disguises himself as a sheep. Sometimes he roars like a lion. But more often he comes like a snake. Sometimes he comes to us in all of his depravity and horror. Other times he comes to us as an angel of light. This is why we always need to be on guard.

He will tempt you and whisper, "Trust me on this. Go ahead and sin. You will get away with it. No one will ever know." So you take the bait and fall into sin.

Then the devil shouts, "What a hypocrite! Do you think God would ever hear your prayers? And don't even bother going to church!" Sadly, some people will listen to this, believe it, and be driven away.

Just remember, no matter what you have done, no matter what sin you have committed, God will always be ready to forgive you if you will turn from that sin and return to Him. Don't let the devil isolate you from God's Word and God's people, because that is exactly what he is trying to do.

Greg Laurie
Copyright ©2008 by Harvest Ministries. All Rights Reserved.

I want to thank everyone on this board for your prayers & support. My ABF (who I split up with a several months ago) has been through ALOT the past couple of months. We had split up twice before this, but this time I prayed really hard that if God wanted him in my life, to bring him back a 3rd & final time, but realizing he has an A problem. Well, he DID come back, and seems different....says he "hit bottom".....well....in my opinion, he is still drinking so he isn;t "quite there" yet.....but I feel God WORKING on SOMETHING :praying!!! It is just incredible. SLOW....God's time, not mine.....lol..ugh (I'm SO impatient!!) but WORKING.
Just today I was having a bad time, a job came to him that I at first thought would hurt our relationship ( the devil was working overtime on me, my imagination was going crazy).......and out of the blue a Christian ladyfriend of mine phoned & asked if everything was okay. She said she could not get me out of her mind today. SO....long story short, that phone call really helped put my mind back in prospective, and was clearly from GOD!!!!
Things are working out slowly......but so far my ABF isn't ready to deal with a DUI warrant from 2004........he just doesn't want to discuss it, and it scares me. He's afraid of the jail time (probably only 3-5 months, some possibly house arrest), and also says he doesn;t have $$ for the fines, so it's no use dealing with it.....:skillet
It does seem like there is no way out of his situation, yet I KNOW with God NOTHING is impossible!!
As for my life, I really need a life partner so badly. I long to be married again, and I do love this man.
So I'm asking all of you to continue to pray for my BF to realize he has to face this DUI from 2004. (If it is God's will). And more importantly, that he realizes he needs to FIND GOD in his life. We are living in such critical times!! His childhood was horrendous, so it's extremely difficult for him. But I DO believe God is working on him.
There is power in numbers, so please continue to pray for his & our situation. Thank you all for listening!!

Just today, almost 7 months clean, I was driving to work and got this almost obsessive thought that "I just want to get high again!" It came from nowhere. I wasn't thinking anything about drugs or in a drug area and I hadn't had anything happen that would trigger me. It felt like a "blast from the past" or some type of seizure in my brain. Totally chemical craving. I could even taste the oxy in my mouth it was so strong. Like overwhelming hunger. I seriously almost drooled. Where did it come from, and why did it happen? Deja Vu?

I was glad that I had work all day to keep me out of trouble. You know what they say about the devil and idle hands.
KJ

I gave up, after numerous freebie, craving-free weeks. This past week the cravings hit full force, though, and tonight I didn't resist at all.

Long story short: After I drank at the party, I sat down on a curve, and held my head in my hands. I saw this image of myself, asking me: "So it's just you and me now. Are you willing to do it?"

I'm used to effortlessness. Right now, I don't have a job, I'm barely keeping up with my long overdue classes, taking a colourful variety of meds that supposedly consolidate my mental health and sobriety, I'm hooked on cigarettes that fill a void, and basically take everything for granted, including my family and friends. When I decided to get sober for good 15 weeks ago, I had no cravings whatsoever, so I just coasted along with a relieved smile. That's the way things tend to be in my life: simply handed to me, implying no hard work whatsoever.

When I was a kid, my Grandmother used to say that I could charm the devil into doing whatever I pleased. That comment is obviously untrue, but it's not quite off the mark either. It set the stage for the way my life would be like, at least in appearance: seemingly sunny, filled with silver spoons, and requiring no effort. At all. So, yup, I'm just a Self-injuring martyr, now ignore those goddamn clouds... How's that for a martyr statement!

There is one thing - maybe the only thing - I'm proud of: I have tried my very best to never, ever, hurt anyone. Except for one notable exception, this is something I have excelled at. It's not that I try to be a "good person" or some other half assed notion along those lines. It's just the way I am. But:

I have hurt others unintentionally.

And I've also hurt myself.

What am I going to do differently this time around?

Well... ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING.

... there is a bigger picture, right? :(

Hello, my name is Alexander. I'm 18 years old and I've been drinking since I was 15, heavily for the past 2 years. I've felt lost for a long time and I took to drinking nightly because of it, I almost never drink during daytime unless I'm under a great deal of emotional stress, but binge drinking as soon as the sun goes down and I'm set for the day is a must.

I'm very skillful at hiding my problem from everybody who surrounds me, though some of my friends have their suspicions and convictions because I drink like the devil when we're all out together, but the thing is, I want to stop.

I don't plan on living for very long, so this isn't about fear of the physical repercussions, though I'm perfectly aware of all the consequences. Though I crave the alcohol, I don't crave the emotional status it carries alongside, I want to, I need to stop drinking in order to feel like its worth pushing through the days and nights.

I just found these forums and I want to hear from other people who have gone through the same or similar experiences and have dealt with their drinking problems.

I don't know how to go around this, what I need to hear from you guys or anything so feel free to ask anything you want, I want to be sincere here and find a way to work things out.

I'm at a friend's house right now and have permission to post to my little blabbering heart's content.

So I'm gonna.

The person ...
has been in and out of the program multiple times in the last year and a half of my knowing them.
Somehow a friendship was struck and well;
I have become the sober poster child for this person.
When he slips - I'm usually the first person to know other than those he's with.

And you can say all the things we say about ourselves and others say about us...
he's smart
he's funny
he's got a great personality...
he's a devil to get to followthrough with anything...

And he hasn't slept in days and invited me up here to use the computer -
and has been crashed on the couch since I got here.
He woke up long enough to say he was sorry for not being a good host -
LOL
But said he felt better having me here.

Something about that ... really touched me.
For an alcoholic to know that someone felt safe having you around.

You know -
I don't know everything about this disease,
or if it even *IS* a disease
I've never cared about the semantics.

Are we doing good?

That's what I care about.

Are we making a difference?
Then tell me what you are doing.


I can't make anyone else make a choice.
But I have been given tools.
I have been given ... an alternative to destruction.

I am not in control of this outcome for this person.
I worry about him, of course.
But just for today -
in this center of this universe -
he felt safe from alcohol having me here.

And since that's all it takes.
Here I sit.
Truly - can it GET any easier than that?

There's a topic in there someplace, I think.

But I'm so very grateful that I am able today.
Able .. to respond.

Sometimes I try to look inside from the outside. If that makes any sense. When I do I see that I do have a drinking problem. I am always drinking. I try to tell myself that I drink because I'm bored and drinking to make life fun but truth be told I have a problem. I drink because I'm a drunk and reallyh doing this to mask my depression. I was a big drug head in college, I did it all....a lot of it all....pot, shrooms, pills, meth, coke. I havent done drugs in 2 years. I don't think my drug past has anything to do with my current problem but I mention it because I was always an "enhancement smoker". I'm happy to be off the drugs but I feel like I am an "enhancement drinker". I traded one devil for the next.

I'm not exactly sure why I'm on this forum or what I expect to get from this. My old roomate came here with his drinking issues and he said it was very helpful.

In the last 2 years I have gone to bed sober maybe 15 times. I drink everyday. From the minute I get home from work until I fall asleep. Beer usually dosent cut it but if I'm drinking beer, i'll drink 20 without thinking twice. My drink is cheap bourban, I'll drink a fifth a night....and want more It seems like alot but anymore I don't even count the drinks.

I work 8-5 in a cube, I find that sometime in the afternoon around 3 or so I just think about the booze in my fridge or what happy hour I'm going to hit.

This messes with my work life, I'm always late and hungover at work. I drink cheap booze but I drink enough that I'd like to not spend so much money.

I've tried taking days off but then I just can't sleep so I wind up drink 6-7 nightcaps so I can sleep.

I've looked into AA but I don't think its for me. They meet 1.8 miles from my apartment and have 3 meetings a day. I've read through the 12 steps and to many of them involve god. I'm an agnostic so I don't see how I could take the steps seriously. I would hope they would help me anyways, I just can't quite get myself to go. I don't want to stand in front of strangers and talk about this stuff. I guess thats why I'm here.

I wish I could just drink on the weekends with my friends, thats what normal people do. I would be happy if I could just drink socially and stop being a drunk. Is this possible?

When I met her, we connected very well, and I could feel her trying to mask the truth but she really needed help. I could feel how she regrets being the way she is and is crying out for an honest helping hand. At the time, I was not familiar with alocholism and it's symptoms; she's 26 and I am 29, I just thought that she's just partying just like I did when I was in college and that once things get serious between us she'd get herself together and bring out her inner beauty to complement her physical beauty.

A year has gone by now, she hasn't changed her habits. She's gone through 5 jobs and quit each one drunk. I've come home from work many many times to find her intoxicated. I've helped her reconciliate with her family whom had given up on her but she lost them again for she abused them while she was intoxicated.

She's been to rehab centres...she's been to doctors...but noone can help her because she's not wanting to get better.

I broke up with her many times but she keeps coming back, and I let her back on conditions to get help and free herself from this disease, but the conditions are never being attempted at satisfying. I let her back into my life to save hers. But she continues to lie and lie and betray me. I can't believe that I am going through this, but again, I say, if she wasn't sick and capable to move on, I would have broke up with her for good a long time ago, the only thing keeping her coming back is my compassion and my urge to help her and save her life. But, now I know that she's taking advantage of me. But then, when she's sober, she is an angel, until without warning, she's intoxicated and posessed by the devil.

I care about her but I want her to just move on, but she has no where to go.
I am in a dilemma. If she goes to one of her friends (sick as well) she will never get out of this hell she's in. If I let her stay, she will hurt me over and over.
My life has been difficult and I have gone through a lot of issues to arrive at this age, and I have always worked my way out, and today I still believe and know that there is not any problem in this world that I cant solve and overcome, no matter how personal it is, and for sure pain and endurance is part of the equation, as well as suffering. Though, the alcohol dependent does not have the will to try to solve anything, by any means, other than by hitting the bottle.

I write this as she's passed out after coming home from a job interview.

:sorry if I have offended anyone.

sometimes the truth hurts.

And, I created this account for her, but she's not using it. So I will.

~25 Things Worth Thinking About~

1) Give God what's RIGHT -- not what's LEFT.

2) Man's way leads to hopeless end; God's way leads to
Endless hope.

3) A lot of kneeling will keep you in good standing.

4) He who kneels before God can stand before anyone.

5) In the sentence of life, the devil may be a comma, but
Never let him be the period.

6) Don't put a question mark where God puts a period.

7) Are you wrinkled with burden? Come to the church for a
Faith-lift.

8) When praying, don't give God instructions -- just report
For duty.

9) Don't wait for six strong men to take you to the church.

10) We don't change God's message; His message changes us.

11) All churches should be prayer-conditioned.

12) When God ordains, He sustains.

13) WARNING: Exposure to the Son may prevent burning.

14) Plan ahead -- it wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.

15) Most people want to serve God, but only in an advisory
Position.

16) Suffering from truth decay? Brush up with your Bible on
A daily basis.

17) Exercise daily! Walk with the Lord.

18) Never give the devil a ride -- he will always want to
Drive.

19) Nothing else ruins the truth like stretching it.

20) Compassion is difficult to give away because it keeps
Coming back.

21) He who angers you controls you.

22) Worry is the darkroom in which negatives can develop.

23) Give Satan an inch, and he'll be a ruler.

24) Be ye fishers of men -- you catch them, and God will
Clean them.

25) God does not call the qualified; he qualifies the
Called.