Under the Influence

"Watch out! Don't let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness, and by the worries of this life. Don't let that day catch you unaware. (Luke 21:34 NLT)

Can I get drunk on worry?

When a person is drunk, his senses are dulled. This lack of alertness can put him and others in danger. When we are under the influence of worry, the same thing happens. Our focus shifts, and we are no longer aware of the big picture. We become absorbed by our problems and become numb to everything else. We can become so obsessed with worrying that we lose balance in our lives.

Anything that numbs our senses and makes us unaware of our surroundings...anything that blinds us to God’s presence all around us, leads us to a similar state of drunkenness. When we are under the influence of greed, ambition, lust, fear, hate, guilt, bitterness, pride, self-absorption, or attachment to worldly pleasures, we become unconscious of God. We walk around unsteady, stupefied, tripping into traps of evil.

“If our Message is obscure to anyone, it’s not because we’re holding back in any way. No, it’s because these other people are looking or going the wrong way and refuse to give it serious attention. All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and that they won’t have to bother believing a Truth they can’t see. They’re stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we’ll ever get.” (2 Cor. 3-4 MSG)

It’s time to get sober, to untangle ourselves from these habits that numb us to the truth. I pray that we may always operate under the influence of God.