Insecurity
Many are overcome by those very temptations and believe that giving into them will provide the feeling of security that they are missing. The reality is that when you give into the temptation to sin you are more vulnerable than you have ever been. The deception that you are safe becomes a lie that you allow to bind you because it seems to solve the issue that you are facing. All the while, it has just opened more issues than you can imagine.
The same is true if a person turns to alcohol, drugs, overeating, fantasy games or any other compulsive behavior as a means of attaining a feeling of security. These behaviors all make a person more vulnerable. You are not more secure when you are drunk or high; you just think you are. In reality, you have become a danger to yourself and others.
The longer that you are involved in these destructive behaviors, the more that the root of the issue becomes unclear. The issue becomes not only seeking security but also seeking the temporary pleasure that is offered. Most of the time, however, the compulsion is increased during times of high stress, when there is a conflict with your spouse, when there is a major life change such as moving, job change or a change in the family of another kind, when there is a death of a loved one or a feeling of rejection that occurs. All of these things stir once again the desire for security and cause the person to be overwhelmed with the compulsion to act upon what they have become convinced restores the feeling of security that they are missing.
If security cannot be restored by these activities, how can it be dealt with? David gives us a three-part answer in Psalm 142. First, he says in verses 1-2, “I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble.” Before a person can get victory over the compulsive behaviors and addictions that have come because of their insecurity, they must recognize this as the source of their problem. David said that he poured his complaint out before God and showed Him his trouble. If you are pursuing a sense of security outside of God, then acknowledging that and admitting to God where you went wrong is the only proper starting place to getting right.
