Page 72 - Overcoming Addiction

our enemies. Addiction cannot stand before the child of God who will believe and
obey. It has no more power against God than a house of cards has to resist the
force of a hurricane. Addictions of all kinds are so overmatched when compared to
the power of God working in us, as to make their chances of victory laughable. The
God who created the Universe with a word, and Who holds all things together by
the strength of His might, is not daunted by the enemies that dwell in our flesh.
It is not a lack of available power that will keep any man or woman from
conquering the enemies in the land. It is unbelief. Consider the words of those
who did not share the faith manifested by Joshua and Caleb.

Numbers 14:1-4
Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people
wept that night. All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron;
and the whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the
land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is
Yahweh bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our
little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to
Egypt?" So they said to one another, "Let us appoint a leader and return to
Egypt."

Fear and unbelief are perpetually the enemies of faith. Fear and unbelief will
cause us to despise faith even as the sons of Israel despised Moses and Aaron.
When Joshua and Caleb persisted in telling the people that they were well able to
go in and take possession of the land, the people responded by speaking of stoning
them to death.
There are many Christians today who view the battles God would lead them
forth into, and they are met with the fear and unbelief of their flesh. They begin to
look for other leaders who will not make them face their enemies. It does not
matter if their only options are to die in the wilderness, or to return to the
bondage of Egypt. They prefer these things to facing the giants in the land of their
flesh.
Yahweh is greatly displeased whenever He encounters such a heart of
rebellion, fear and unbelief in one of His children. He knows there is no reason for
a person to give themselves over to these things. He has demonstrated in the most
profound way that He is for them. Some have criticized the Israelites for acting in
such a cravenly manner when they had observed the power of God in bringing
them forth from Egypt. These Christians believe they would never have acted in a
similar fashion. The Israelites witnessed the plagues that decimated the most
powerful nation on earth, so they should not have feared the inhabitants of
Canaan. God had proven to Israel that He was for them, and He would fight for
them. It was not by the Israelites’ power that the armies of Egypt were destroyed
in the Red Sea. God had vanquished the enemy they dreaded.
The Christian should consider that God has done even more for us. We need
look no further than the cross of Christ to see how God has taken up our part. The
authority of Satan over mankind was destroyed at the cross. God was willing to go
to the most extreme lengths in order to redeem us from the power of sin. He sent
forth His Son, Who was more precious to Him than anything else, and He asked