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with your emotional problems
without the costs and side effects of
drugs or alcohol? Perhaps there are
things you are overlooking, physi–
cal and spiritual, that will help in
finding solutions to, or coping with,
your problems.
Has life become dull or lost mean–
ing and purpose for you? Have you
failed to find the joys of hope and
peace of mind in life? Have you
assumed there is no other hope or
alternative but mind-altering drugs
or alcohol to cope with your prob–
lems, anxieties and fears?
Purposelessness, hopelessness,
boredom, anxiety, despair and fear
all have a
cause.
The cause is
broken laws-broken spiritual and/
or physical laws.
Governments, ed ucational sys–
tems and religions have not taught
the spiritual Jaws and the way of life
that would produce understanding of
human problems, that would pro–
duce solutions and bring peace, hope
and happiness of mind.
The Creator put humans on earth
for an awesome Purpose- to develop
God's supreme creation-<:haracter!
God created immutable spiritual , as
well as physical, laws to produce in
mortal human beings the happiness,
the wholesome excitement, hope and
peace of mind that we are alllooking
for. These revealed spiritual laws
provide a way of life that is upbuild–
ing and that leads finally to eternal
Ji fe.
When we break these spiritual
laws we reap automatic penalties–
anxiety, depression, fear, purpose–
lessness, lust, hate, strife, guilt.
Millions don't realize their suffer–
ing is the consequence of their
breaking
spiritua/
law. Chemical
crutches will never salve spiritual
problems!
Pain and suffering were intended
to be physical warning signaJs that
something needs to be changed or
avoided. In biblical terms this
change means
repentance-turning
from wrong ways of living to right
ways, from the way of self-seeking
to the way of sharing and giving to
others. Too many fe.el they must
avoid all pain and suffering while
they go on doing the things that
cause pain and s uffering. They
focus on alleviat ion of symptoms of
distress-while they live the same
42
self-centered way they have always
lived. What a tragedy that neither
education nor science nor the reli–
gions of this world have taught
people they must seek first to
understand the real causes of their
problems and then quit doing
them.
Power to Help
You can- if you will repent of vio–
lating God's revealed spiritual laws
(sin is the transgression of God's
law- 1 John 3:4)- ask God for his
help to solve your problems and
fears. You can ask for spirituaJ
understanding, for wisdom, for lov–
ing attitudes and strength that only
God can provide.
God works with humans through
his Holy Spirit. Through his Spirit
God gives the help, lave, hope and
strength needed to resolve prob–
lems.
But if humans stubbornly persist
in going their own way, in doing self–
ish, sel f-centered things, they
remain cut off from the help that
God alone can provide the alcoholic
or the addict. The C reator says: "Be–
hold, the Lord's hand is not short–
ened, that it cannot save; neither bis
ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but
your iniquities have separ ated
between you aod your God, and your
sins have hid his face from you, that
he will not hear. . . . [Therefore] we
grape for the wall like the blind ..."
(Isa. 59: 1-2,
JO).
A whole generation of misguided
humans seeks false chemical tran–
quility because they don' t have-or
will not look for- the spiritual tran–
quility and hope that
is
available.
The Creator doesn't want you
carelessly numbing or dwarfing
your human spirit, your abilities
and health by abuse of chemicals.
If
you are ensnared in the drug
trap, it is time you learned to solve
your personal problems through
available human help and through
con tact with God, rather than
escaping in drugs or alcohol.
" Happy is he that hath the God
of Jacob for his help, whose hope is
in the Lord his God" (Psa. 146:5).
Find the right solutions to your
problems by e liminating the
causes-and you will be on the
road to
real
fulfillment and genuine
joy and happiness.
o
UNDER20
(Continued from page 25)
cent alcohol experiences. "Not
realizing the effect of your own
social drinking on youngsters is the
major blunder of parents," wisely
warns Dr. Ruth Fax, a psychiatrist
and alcoholism specialist.
Children are powerful imitators of
their parents. During time spent at
home, chi ldren watch their parents
for clues on how they live. When the
father (or mother) comes in after
work and says, " 1
need
a drink," the
lesson is not lost on the child. The
subtle meaning given is that living
life requires a place for alcohol–
mostly as a social anesthetic.
Further, wi th the sp irali ng
increases in worldwide divorce,
children are crushed between the
two-pronged vise of facing the
powerful pressures of growing up
coupled with spasmodic distorted
affection from separated parents.
Children are virtually in a no–
win situation. Instead of being
braced by a stable borne environ–
ment, children are cast into incom–
prehensible emotional turmoil.
T he now-separated parents are
barely able to cope with their own
problems, leaving precious little
emotional room to properly rear
one or more children.
Thus, the seeds sown, society lat–
er reaps a crop of emotionally crip–
pled teenagers.
And these teenagers respond by
grasping whatever anesthetics they
can find- be it marijuana, barbitu–
rates, alcohol and more!
The years 12 to 20 are special
growth
years- years that impact
heavily on adulthood. During these
years, even
without
the complexity
added by living within a broken
home, teenagers undergo a myriad of
pressures- pressures that eventually
produce results for good or ill .
And it's
not
easy.
If
one learns to respond positively
to stress-using it as an opportunity
for growth-and is blessed with a
concerned, able set of parents, the
teen emerges from childhood as a
tempered adult, strong in mind and
body (Prov. 22:6).
But in today's world, this is rap–
idly becoming the
exception
rather
than the rule. Here is one illustra-
The PLAIN TRUTH