Page 7 - Overcoming Addiction

As a child growing up in church among “good people” I was reminded that
“bad company corrupts good morals.” I heard stories about those who used illegal
drugs. I was told that people who used crack cocaine, or other commonly abused
substances, would turn into demented, violent thieves and murderers who would
as soon stab a person as look at them. My only knowledge of these people came
from the headlines of the newspaper, and the horrific accounts of the evening
newscast.
My isolation, coupled with the stories I heard, served to create a barrier that
prevented me from being used of Christ to reach the very ones He came to save.
There were occasions when I prayed to the Lord about this matter. I confessed
my desire to do His will, while also admitting that I felt woefully unprepared. I
lacked familiarity with this portion of society. I did not understand their
struggles. Neither did I consider myself knowledgeable about the solution to their
problems. I only understood that Christ was God’s solution to man’s slavery to
sin, but the actual details of how Christ could help the addict and alcoholic were
hard for me to define.
God is able to prepare His people for service. Christ does not expect us to
figure things out for ourselves. He will not give to His children a ministry and
expect them to carry it out in their own strength, and according to their own
wisdom. Those whom He calls, He will qualify.
I did not anticipate where the Spirit of Christ would lead me in the years
since I confessed my desire to be used by Him according to His will. It has truly
been an adventure. There have been many trials, sorrows and heartaches along
the way, but there has also been an abundance of grace to enable me to stay the
course. As I have followed the Good Shepherd I have found myself being
prepared to serve as His hands, His mouth, His feet. He has led me to the very
ones God has always had compassion upon. He has taught me many things along
the way. I have learned the struggles of this segment of mankind, and I have
learned the details of Christ’s salvation in such a deep and profound way that
explaining it to others now flows from my innermost being as water from a
spring.
For the past three years I have found myself living and working at an inner
city rescue mission. I did not choose to come to this place. The Spirit ordered my
steps and brought me to it. And what a profitable experience it has been! Even as
Joseph was prepared for a ministry in Egypt as he toiled in Potipher’s house and
then in the prisons of Pharaoh, I have found myself being prepared for a ministry.
This is not MY ministry. It is CHRIST’s ministry. It is also the ministry of the
entire body of Christ.
This book declares the things the Spirit has taught me, and I believe it will
be profitable for those who also are hearing the call to be Christ’s body, as well as
for those to whom Christ is reaching out, the captive, the downtrodden, and
misunderstood members of this Adamic race.
May you be blessed with peace and understanding as you read.

Joseph Herrin