"I have to constantly guard against relapse - one weak moment and I'll lose everything I've rebuilt."
How it sounds in your head: Every day feels like walking a tightrope. Stress, loneliness, pain - any of these could be the trigger that sends me back. At my age, with health issues mounting, I'm terrified one prescription could open the door. I'm always one moment away from disaster.
"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy."
-- Jude 1:24Fear-based mindset that makes you the keeper of your own freedom instead of Christ the sustainer.
Relapse statistics are grim. She's seen people with decades of sobriety fall. She knows her own vulnerabilities and the reality that temptation doesn't disappear with age.
Thrown into a den of HUNGRY lions - situation designed to destroy him, no human way to survive. He didn't fight the lions or guard himself. God SHUT THE LIONS' MOUTHS. Daniel came out without a scratch - not because of his vigilance, but because God kept him.
I REFUSE the lie that I am one weak moment from disaster. IT IS WRITTEN that He is ABLE TO KEEP ME from stumbling. I am not the keeper of my freedom - JESUS is. My sobriety is not sustained by perfect vigilance - it's sustained by His PERFECT POWER. IT IS WRITTEN that He will not allow me to be tempted beyond what I can bear and will ALWAYS provide a way of escape. I am not walking a tightrope - I am HELD by the grip of God that CANNOT FAIL. Greater is He that is in me than any temptation that comes against me. I walk in CONFIDENCE, not fear. I am KEPT by His power.
The Father doesn't see you as barely hanging on, constantly on the verge of falling. He sees you as KEPT - held in His hand from which NO ONE can snatch you. Your freedom isn't fragile - it's FORTIFIED by the blood of Jesus that never loses its power.