Working The Word (Walking Away From Addiction Into The Sweet Arms of Jesus) He Will Bring Me Up Again

By: Hanny Lynn Stearns

Fish N Loaves Ministries, Inc.

“Multiplying God’s Word Around the Globe”

October 12, 2016

He Will Bring Me Up Again

Psalm 71:20-24

²⁰ You, who have shown me great and severe troubles, shall revive me again, and bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
²¹ You shall increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side.

²² Also with the lute I will praise You— and Your faithfulness, O my God!
To You I will sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel.
²³ My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You,

and my soul, which You have redeemed.
²⁴ My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long; for they are confounded, for they are brought to shame who seek my hurt. 

Last night I had a dream. It was not so good either. I was in an elevator and it was going down really fast. Then all of a sudden it stopped and I got off. Hallelujah! I asked he Lord to show what it meant and I heard no immediate reply. I let it go and went about my day.

I spent time working on my Psalm 76 Bible Study and a friend called me who said she loves the Lord but does not go to church or read her Bible. The Lord used me to speak a word to her that she needed to hear and it blessed me greatly. I have known her for nearly forty years and her eternal destination is of the utmost importance ot me of course.

Next, I had a dental appointment today. I was to have two crowns done on my back teeth. I had not had any major dental work done for a long time. I called the office and asked about dental sedation. They said that would mean putting me out completely. I declined that. Then I asked about the nitrous oxide they offered and they said they could do that combined with the novacaine shots to avoid any pain. I opted for that choice instead.

Once in the dental chair, they hooked up the oxegyn mask to my face and the flow of nitrous began to enter my system. As soon as I breathed it in, my heart began pounding. I did not like the feeling at all. Thoughts about my former drug use flashed across my mind. I had not even asked the Lord if this was His will for me to use this stuff. I am not happy to say that. It didn’t take me long to tell the dental assitant to get this stuff away from me!

She pulled off the mask as I was silently telling the Lord I was apologizing for using this. I didn’t need it – the shots were enough. In just a few minutes I felt much better as the drug left my system. My body has been clean and sober since 2006 except for anesthesia for surgery or colonoscopies. I realized that it was a mistake to even ask for the nitrous. People who have battled with any form of chemical addiction in the past should not be fooling around with such things. Today I learned a big lesson. Always ask the Lord first about every decision, especially something like this! And above all, trust Him. I really should know this by now.

I had prayed before the procedure and I was expecting good results. I was going to a Christian dentist and everyone else I came in contact with were Christians as well. What a great place it is. The Lord had led me there and I knew He would see me through this. But I failed to trust Him as much as I should have. I asked for His forgiveness and I moved on with my day. I was so grateful for making the decision to get off that stuff right away. It was a horrible reminder of how bad one feels when using drugs for comfort. They are a temporay escape from reality that always ends in more despair than when we started – ask me how I know!

This evening as I was finishing the other Bible Study for Psalm 76, Holy Spirit revealed it to me. The Lord showed me the purpose of my dream. I was on the elevator going down and it stopped abruptly. It was the dental experience today. He showed me ahead of time that I was going to make a wrong decision but there was a quick stop to it – praise His name forever. As I had sat there in the chair the Lord spoke to my heart. He explained to me that the shots would be enough to numb me from the pain. I had never experienced trouble with novacaine shots before and this time would be no different.

In the Psalm today we read these words in the first two verses…

Psalm 71:20-21

You, who have shown me great and severe troubles, shall revive me again, and bring me up again from the depths of the earth. ²¹ You shall increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side.

Since my terrible crisis that began in 2003 where I almost lost my life in April of 2004, the Lord has brought me up – way up from the horrible pit I had dug for myself. He has increased my greatness. He has comforted me on every side. Just this morning as I sat with Him He told me to just sit with Him on our porch swing like we enjoy doing at times. He told me I needed comfort, and He was right there to give it.

The Lord is so faithful. He knows what is coming around the corner for us. He can prepare us so that we can walk through whatever it may be in victory. I did not realize what I was walking into today, but something in me didn’t look up and ask Him about the nitrous. Two years ago I had gone through deliverance from a spirit of addiction. That is the card I pulled from my memory verse box today. It is miraculous how the Lord does this each day around here! He has an amazing way of showing us what we need to see each and every day in His word if we will pay attention. I can honestly say I didn’t pay the best attention today. But thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus! I stopped it before it went any further. In my spirit knew I had to get away from that stuff.

Friends, this is why we need to watch and pray. We must pay attention to what we are contemplating doing and take it to the Lord. If we do, His word will work for us and keep us from great danger. I am used by God to give you examples from my life. Sometimes it is showing you what to do and other times it is to show you what not to do. We continue to learn as we walk with the Master. Our lives should be a continual process of learning and growing. There will be many corrections. It isn’t the people who are getting corrected who will fail – it’s the ones who refuse to receive correction and instruction. They are the ones that don’t make it.

But that’s not you and me, is it? No! We are doers of the word of God. If we miss it like I did today, we get right back on the path and keep working the word of God because we know that His word works if we work it – amen!