JERRIE OUGHTON

“Turn and Run.” That was the title of an “Open Window’s” devotional we read at our house this week. It was about addiction, which is on a lot of minds these days. There is the new and astounding vaping epidemic. Preceded by and still riding side by side with the opioid problem. I am sure people who have been touched by these two tragic addictions are forever changed.

As I reflected on that devotional, I gradually realized that we are all faced with the pitfalls of less obvious addictions. So, I looked up the verb addict in Webster and found the following definition:  “to devote or give oneself habitually or compulsively.” So, in a word, it is an obsession — addiction is. Oh, so, “Everything in Moderation,” that old saying, might not be such a good watchword after all. “Turn and run” might better guide our path.

But how about the small obsessions that might not kill but do shape lives? For instance, thinking constantly about a loss, a heartbreak, an anger. What about these very human emotions that can become obsessions if we don’t turn and run. Of course, we need to deal with such thoughts. Often it is hard to let them go, though. Hard not to let them slowly destroy us. Is that addiction also?

Years ago, the teen daughter of a close friend in Kansas was so obsessed with her body that she became bulimic and anorexic and was wasting away in a hospital. Our friend’s brother said to the teen’s parents, “Let me have her for the summer. Let me try another treatment. Trust me on this.” Desperate for answers and help, they agreed.

In August, she returned home. Healthy. Happy. Ready for a new school year and renewing friendships. When asked what he did, he told the parents, “Here are the two things we did. First. She and I ate our meals apart from the family. I read to her from the Bible, mostly about Jesus saying our bodies are the holy temples of God. We talked about how a church building could get rundown and be in shambles if someone didn’t take care of it. We discussed how God chose us. We didn’t choose Him. He chose us to be the receptacles for Him on earth. The other thing we did? We prayed together.

“She didn’t dive in immediately. But we persisted. She knew I cared. Then she understood that God did, too.”

Our friends’ daughter finished school, married and had two children. Lived, when she very well could have died in that hospital had it not been for her uncle.

Making a bargain with God may seem such a simplistic answer to a huge problem. At our home, I leave our Bible out where I can see it and say the name of Jesus as I pass by. At night, when I read those tissue-thin pages, I thank God for guiding my thoughts. Thank Him for getting my mind off of myself and on to others and their needs. Sure. Losses hove on the horizon. Regrets. That’s when those three words keep me from lingering there. I turn and run from the negatives. The difference here is: I have someone to run to.