Finding Hope: A Plan for Loved Ones of AddictsSample

Day 10: Finding Hope

You have a story to tell. Don’t sit on it, and don’t let it go to waste. You may have emerged with a third-act victory that would inspire even the darkest soul, or you may currently be mired in a terrifying, second-act cliffhanger, dangling by your fingertips and wondering whether you’ll be able to find firm footing again.

Real people who have gone through real issues of pain and suffering have found something the whole world needs.

Hope.

Hope sets you free to live again. Yes, your situation with your loved one might just be beginning. But now you have the hope to know that no matter how dark it may get, God will never leave you stranded without help. Or maybe you’re in the throes of it, stuck right smack dab in the middle of the hell that is addiction. Today you can smile knowing that the best choice you can make is the one that gives you the medicine you deserve. Or maybe you’re in a recovery story, seeing the lights come back into your loved one’s eyes. You can look back on the hope that sustained you through the darkness and know you’ll be able to rely on it in the future, all while passing it on to others who were just like you.

Your story, which is always being written, can shut down the enemy’s fiercest attacks. Our brothers and sisters desperately need to see you standing up boldly and sharing your story so that they can see that hope does exist and it’s still alive!

Closing Perspective: Pam Lang

Most people in my season of life look back at their children's graduations, weddings, and the births of their grandchildren as some of the most wonderful days of their parenting. Indeed I do. But I also add events such as Lance's transition from rehab, when he first began telling his story of redemption and recovery, when he started making restitution for past poor choices, and when he dedicated his life to giving hope to men and women entrapped in addiction.

I remember two occasions I whispered in his ear, “Thank you for giving me one of the best nights of my life.” The first occasion was at the book signing for his first book, Hope is Alive, and the second time was at his first Night of Hope event. I got to see what I knew was there all along: my son using all his talents and abilities for good. I got to witness him give instead of take; I got to see him share truth instead of lies; I got to see him share hope instead of living hopelessly.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

That has become my mantra. I will not waste this suffering.

I pray your child or loved one gets out of the horrible pit and miry clay of addiction. I pray that when they do, your family will choose to comfort others in their affliction. May we all indeed sing a new song of praise and thanksgiving as God restores and brings hope to the hopeless and proclaim, “HOPE IS ALIVE.”

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This devotional is taken from the book, "Finding Hope" written by Lance Lang, along with his parents Pam & Wendell. It chronicles their story & provides guidance to other families facing addiction issues. You can learn more about the book by clicking here.