Who Needs a Counselor Anyway?

Who needs a counselor is kind of like asking who needs a teacher. If you are born again, it is true that you have the Holy Spirit as a counselor and a teacher. But it is also true that God still kept teachers in place even after He left us the Holy Spirit. Just like a teacher or preacher is the one who usually studies the word, and tries to gain expertise in understanding, so also does the counselor become the expert in the area their area of concern. Many times, due to the unclear thinking, confusion and sometimes delusion that is involved with addictions, a person needs outside help and tools to overcome. I have counseled many people who have read their Bible and prayed for years, but never had victory over their addictions. Like wise, I have counseled some who, after uncovering a few root causes, and passing on some keys that were new to them, eventually overcame their addiction. It is not a weakness to need help. It is humility to ask for it."Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?" declares the LORD. "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word." Isaiah 66:2

Pour it out

Pour it out. When we don't pour out what is inside, we either become stagnate or toxic. When we become stagnate or toxic, we try to mask what's going on inside through other mind altering substances or activities.
Pour it out just like the psalmist did. If you can't get out your own feelings in a psalm then pick a psalm that you identify with and speak it out for yourself.
For example: Psalm 6 6 I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. 7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes. 8 Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping. 9 The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer.
This Psalm, like so many, identifies, feelings of despair, sorrow, and ultimately hope. So get your pen and paper and pour it out to the One who hears and cares.

Keys to Balance

Imbalance in life causes imbalance in emotions which can lead to masking emotions through addictions of various sorts. In the Jewish lifestyle, we can see a balance that Western Society does not have. For example;
Nehemiah 8:11 says,
"So the Levites calmed all the people , saying, "Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved ." 8:12 All the people went away to eat, to drink, to send portions and to celebrate a great festival, because they understood the words which had been made known to them."
There was a time to celebrate rather than grieve. But very soon after celebrating, it was a time for repentance and mourning. Nehemiah 9:1 "On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and having dust on their heads."
Most of us live in a society where balance does not exist. In order to avoid and/or overcome addictions, it is up to us to follow the biblical principles of balance by
pursuing God's design for the full range of emotions to be expressed.