LIVING LIFE ON LIFE’S TERMS

by Jack Watts

In our society, we are repeatedly told to look at the glass as being half full, but doing so is frequently impossible. Often, the glass is nearly empty.

For millions, grief and heartache are their daily portions in life. There are times when all a person can do is put one foot in front of the other. Sometimes, they can’t even do that effectively.

For people like these, to view the glass as half full would be delusional. They would have to deny the reality of their daily lives to do so, which many are unwilling to do. So, they grind out their lives, one day after the other, coping with depression, despair, and hopeless foreboding the best way they know how.

Living life on life’s terms isn’t easy. It’s why people drink, drug, and enable those who do. People self-medicate to ease the pain of their stressful, debilitating emotions. For a while this strategy is effective, but eventually it stops working. When it does, the original problem remains unresolved, but the addict ends up having to deal with an additional problem as well—alcoholism and/or drug addiction.

When people, who have become trapped by their addictions, hit bottom and have nowhere to turn, this is when they need God more than ever. It’s also when prayer becomes more important to them than at any other time in their lives.

We live in stressful times. Just when we think we have everything under control, with events going our way, the rug can get pulled out from under our feet. When this happens, addictive people are tempted to return to drinking or drugging. Sometimes, the compulsion is overwhelming. Living like this isn’t what you want for your life, and it isn’t what God wants for you either.