The Things of This World – a testimony about addiction

So turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Today’s post is hard to write. It’s been coming to me over the last month, and the delay in sitting down and hammering it out is that I want you to know my heart in these things, to comfort the disturbed, and to disturb the comfortable…. and all of it with a heart of love and passion. No small mission, if I may say so myself.

Since as long as I can remember, I’ve been playing video games. Somewhere along the way (also as long as I can remember), it became an addiction. Something I woke up to, something I went to sleep to, thinking and dreaming about. The nearly-only source of entertainment day and night was some form of gaming. It interfered with work, school, relationships, and worst of all – my spiritual life. This wasn’t clear in the midst of it, though.

Sometime about 4 months ago, the Lord called me to fast from gaming… something I had tried several times before with varying degrees of success. But this time, it is giving birth to freedom, to new life, to a new Eric. It’s been amazing! Freedom in prayer and hearing from the Lord! A new spiritual depth and endurance I have never known before.

And that freedom is what I want to communicate to you. You see, I would wager a large number of you reading this have something in your life like video gaming – it may not be an addiction, but it’s the default activity that fills your life when nothing else does. It could be TV, reading, exercise, sports, writing, Facebook, texting, or any of 100 other things. None of these things are bad – unless they are keeping you from knowing the Lord more fully!

I can recall countless times in my life that the Lord would call me to prayer or to read the Word and I would say to myself, “I’ll just game for alittle while, then prayer after that.”… but that’s not how it works. The desire fades, and I would never do it.

But what’s been amazing, is that now the gaming is out of the way, when I respond to those nudges, THE LORD ALWAYS SHOWS UP. EVERY SINGLE TIME. It’s never a waste. I’ve received amazing guidance for the course of my life in small and large things, seen visions that encouraged individuals and the Body of Christ itself, seen my wife grow in maturity and discernment and the prophetic. We know the Lord better.

So where does this end? Two encouragements:

It’s worth it, every time. – Whatever hard thing the Lord is calling you to or from, it’s always worth it. You know that stuff about the mind of Christ, and the peace that surpasses understanding? It’s true. Love abounding more and more? True. Deep calling to deep? True.

Don’t give up! – The Lord’s heart is to bind up the brokenhearted, the down-trodden, the depressed. He’s for you, not against you. Trust him in the crappy, horrible, dirty times! It will get better!

I’d love to discuss these things further. Shoot me an email or find me on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/erichenderson