WORLDLY VERSUS HEAVENLY
We know that man, apart from being able to think is also basically a religious being. There are off course those oddities who try and convince themselves that there is no god whatsoever of any kind and they normally would like to ascribe that title themselves which in reality is the case. But for the sake of argument let us agree if possible that there are two basic viewpoints we need to follow in this discourse, namely both a human, worldly viewpoint and a Divine heavenly viewpoint. There is the physical tangible world and then there is the invisible abstract or spiritual world. In everyday life each one of us is involved with the interaction between the two. They both impact each other and on us and it is all filtered through our thinking process.
VISIBLE VERSUS INVISIBLE
The moment we awake to start each new day, our minds are active and through our senses and emotions we interact with our surroundings. If my car does not want to start and I had a late night and overslept and I do not get control over my thoughts and emotions, the rest of the day can turn out to be most miserable. There is a constant interplay between the visible and invisible world in and around me. Some things are under my control, other things are not. Someone else is in control in that realm. We who are human and different from the animal and plant world move between the two, the tangible world and the spiritual world and all the time we are seeking answers as to how to make sense of it all and for this God has given us a brain and a mind. The one is a physical organ and the other a thinking person and the two are constantly at work and Someone is ultimately observing, watching, guiding and judging how we behave. That Someone is the Lord and He wishes to guide our lives. Psalm 32:8 reads
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you, My eye shall be on you.”
OUR CODE OF CONDUCT
And we know this subconsciously and try and work out some code of conduct to do the right thing in the right place whether we are hunting animals for survival in the dense forest as pygmies or chasing after some business contract in the concrete jungle. We have our view of the life going on around us and then there is the view that the God who made us, has. If we cannot see further than our own view, we are going to be very limited in finding direction in this maze we call “life”. Deuteronomy 32:10 says
“He found him in a desert land, and in the deserted, howling wilderness. He led him about, He cared for him, He kept him as the pupil of His eye.”
THE FOOLISH VERSUS THE MIGHTY
I recently met a man whose sole mission in life is to seek out untouched Indian tribes in the Amazon jungle and to bring them the view that God the Creator has of them. These are primitive people who have never been affected by our worldview since the fall of Adam. They have never been exposed to anything else but their way of life for thousands of years. Yet they are still seeking to contact the Great Spirit in the sky who made everything. They maintain that their forefathers must have done something wrong somewhere because they cannot speak with Him and therefore have to obey the lesser spirits who live with them in the forest. If they do not bring sacrifices these spirits get angry when they disobey their code of living and something bad happens. Their witch doctor then has to use his magic potions to contact these spirits to find out what is wrong so that the tribe can fix it. When he drinks his magic potion he can see and hear the spirits more clearly. These people are overjoyed when they hear that the Great Spirit became a man like us to come and show us what the problem is and how to get to know Him. Although these people have gone so far as to sometimes each the flesh of other humans or to sacrifice their children to the spirits, they have more wisdom in recognizing the simplicity of the Gospel than some of the “great minds” of our modern civilization who try to convince us there is no God. Corinthians 1:27 tells us
“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.”
SEE THE WOOD FROM THE TREES
I have had very few interviews with drug-addicted people who have not had some kind of God experience whilst on drugs. On the other hand, every single drug addict has admitted their “lost-ness” when it came to discussing their relationship with God. Most of them suffer from intense confusion as to how to relate to Him. People on drugs are experiencing deep emotions of having lost their way in life by the time they are ready to accept help. In counselling them we need to take them to higher ground so that they can get a better view of where they are finding themselves in relation to their immediate surroundings. When one is hunting in the African bush veld on a cloudy day and the terrain is flat with no high visual points of reference such as the sun or mountains you can easily get lost if you do not keep track of the changing scenery. You have to keep your wits about you when you are not an experienced tracker. And if there are no high trees to climb to find a point of reference you can go around in circles and perish if some search party does not come and find you. So, is it when one is on drugs and your point of view is based on your own human reasoning and you are not prepared to seek higher help? I am afraid most of the counselling industry finds itself in this precarious position at present because they are so focused on the human point of view. They really cannot discern the wood from the trees and are blundering headlong into a tangle of confusion.
DR KRIGE AND HOUSE REGENERATION
This adapted content was extracted from Regeneration Versus Rehabilitation, authored by Dr Ado Krige, the Founding Director of House Regeneration, a South African drug rehabilitation centre offering a comprehensive discipleship training program. By applying principles of Biblical Therapy, using the Scriptures to teach, rebuke, correct, and train in righteousness, House Regeneration counsellors show anyone who has suffered from addiction how to fully understand why they do what they do and how to bring their belief systems in line with the Word of God.
