Get That Monkey Off My Back!
Addicted to Jesus
Addiction is often referred to as having a monkey on one’s back. According to grammarist.com, they say “to have a monkey on one’s back means to have an addiction that one can not control, or to be addicted to drugs or suffering withdrawal from a drug addiction. The origin of this idiom may be the stories of Sinbad, the earliest known works are from the seventeenth century.” It really makes you think what kind of drugs were around in the 17th century that they would be suffering an addiction from. Things that make you go hmmmmmm… lol
In rehab, a popular phrase for recovery that I took with me is to stay on the Yellow Brick Road. This was taken from the movie “The Wizard Of Oz” and the yellow brick road refers to the road of recovery. They claim that as long as you stay on the yello brick road, you will not be bothered by the flying monkeys that are in the film and in our case “our monkey on our back”.
Well, the truth is, our addiction is not going away. Just last night I had ANOTHER drug dream but in this dream, I refused to do drugs because I was so happy in my situation I did not want to mess it up for myself. However in my dream, I did buy them for someone else. I’m not bulletproof yet, although I do ask God to make me just as strong in my subconscious as he does in my consciosness.
So how do we stay on the yellow brick road and get the monkey off our back once and for all? We give it to God. We trust God. We step out of our own way and let God do what he does best and direct our lives for us. Jesus died for our sins so we can live for him and I have to tell you, it’s relieving to me to know that I do not have to be in control anymore.
When in doubt I turn to the bible. A new friend pointed this out to me and I couldn’t be happier to share with this verse with you:
I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do;
Isaiah 42:16
I will not forsake them.
When in doubt, let Jesus take the wheel. He WILL keep you on the yellow brick road and he WILL keep the monkey off your back. As an addict, I will always be addicted to something.
Today I am no longer addicted to drugs and alcohol, I am addicted to Jesus!
He turns my darkest moments into my brightest opportunities.
