Road to Recovery: Wesley Storz Pt 3

Every time I sit down to write about my battle to overcome addiction and my life in recovery, I hear my grandmother telling me, “It didn’t matter what I knew if I can’t pass it along to anyone.” She would quickly follow it up with, “But no one likes a know it all.” So having this opportunity to hopefully help and maybe inspire someone to find victory over their battles drives me each time I sit down to type.

The addict’s lifestyle, my lifestyle for so many years, is a never-ending rollercoaster ride. There are the highs of the high and lows of depression, having no one to trust, and eventually losing everyone. In other words, a never-ending vicious cycle of drama.

Once I stopped drugs, I learned to step out of that drama—much of which I had created, no doubt. The drama in an addict’s life is often the cause to go back to using drugs. Eventually, the addiction isn’t to just the drugs but the lifestyle and drama it entails.

If all your habits and the way you live your life are built around chasing a high that lasts such a brief moment, what do you do to step out of it? That’s the hard part. You have to let the old you die. That includes the old habits, mindsets, and relationships.

What do you replace it with? The answer for me was the word of God. John 14:6 tells us Jesus is the way, the truth, and the light and no one comes to the Father except thru him.  God is so many things that, in fact, he is everything.

All of that drama, the chase of that high, the fights, the lying is the search for the one thing every addict desperately wants, but only God can give. That is a PEACE that surpasses all understanding.

You find everything you have ever lost, wanted, or needed in that peace. There is a happiness and contentment that lasts. You find the people you have always wanted to know, trust, and love. Ultimately in that peace, you find life everlasting.

Surrender is so hard when you are used to that life of fighting. The fear of the unknown keeps us in a mess, but Deuteronomy 3:22 tells us to fear not, for God will fight for you. How do you get to that point?

By dying! By letting that old you go. Have you come to the point where doing the right thing rather than being right is more important. God’s peace is obtainable, but many of us just won’t shut up and let go. I wouldn’t for a long time.

When I ended up at the mission, I was ready. I shut up and listened. Not only did I hear, but I was willing. Willing to listen to what my teachers and mentors had to say. To submit to discipleship and authority of those placed over me.

I asked what I should do and how I should handle this, and I learned to check the word of God because it’s a big book that gives a road map to success and the only real and lasting victory over addiction.

Find mentors you see at peace no matter what comes their way. Learn how they live their lives and be man or woman enough to submit to their direction. Learn how to do things in God’s way. The Bible is full of examples of those who have prospered by doing what God commands. Our churches are full of happy, successful people with lives at peace with others and themselves.

The Bible is also littered with the lives of people who followed the road to destruction. How do you discern who to submit to? Talk with your pastor, pray to God, and as it says in the Bible, you will know them by their fruit.

I don’t mean how much money they have in their pocket. I mean the fruit that God offers. Are they patient, kind, generally good to be around, show love, have self-control, do they pray, and study the Word of God? Galatians 5:22-26 tells us how we should live our lives and how the mentors and the Pastors we submit to should be living their lives.

I strive every day to learn and then put into practice God’s way. As with any seed, it takes time to grow. Years have gone by, and I am seeing that peace and its benefits in my life. There is no magic pill or easy way to a peaceful life, only the Word of God.