Nothing in
our lives stays static. All
changes. Yes, cycles occur in which
things tend to go around and arrive back to where they were (Ecclesiastes 3:15), but that is still constant
change. Our challenge is to be able to see reality as it is. Just when we think we have it, it
changes. People change. Circumstances change. Further, we have a hard time getting it right
in the first place because we create illusions of it. This happens because of
our addictions.
When I am
being motivated by a security addiction, it acts upon my perception as a
filter. The security aspects of any
situation are blown out of proportion and I begin fearing the worst. Never mind that the worst that can happen
never seems to actually happen. I dwell on it anyway. That’s if I am caught up
in a security addiction.
In that
condition, if I feel you don’t love me, I interpret happenings and
circumstances in such a way that they prove my fear to be grounded. This doesn’t mean that I should ignore what I
see. Y’shuah says that we know a tree by
its fruit (Matthew 7:16). Paul describes two types of fruit at
Galatians 5:19-22. Yes, I may perceive
what underlies what I see (determining the tree), but when my consciousness is
being dominated by fear, I will magnify particular aspects of what I see beyond
their relative importance. I may not see
all the fruit, but only the fruit that tends to support my fear.
One problem
with this is that people and situations change.
Just because I fear something that is actually happening, it doesn’t
mean it will continue happening. And it
doesn’t mean that it will result in the thing I fear.
If I am
afraid of something, I like to ask “Why? What is the worst thing that can
happen?” And then, “Okay, suppose that does happen. Well, what is the worst
thing to which that can lead?” And then, “And if that happens, what is the worst that can result from it?” An analysis like that often reveals the
pointlessness of the fear.
The real
futility of being caught up in a security addiction is that when my addiction
has seized control of my thoughts, it blinds me from what is really
happening. I fail to see the contrary
evidence. I am trapped in an
illusion. The situation has changed and
I’m still stuck with my illusory view of it, which wasn’t even valid before
things changed.
A big part
of freeing myself from this trap is to recognize
the problem --- to discover that my addictions form these illusions that blind
me to what is really happening.
Once I
recognize what’s happening, I can take steps to deal with it. This is the
direction in which this series is going.
