No matter the genres or the artist, I always love songs from the heart. Songs about real life – the pain, the joy, the sorrow, the happiness and the struggle of living day to day in a twisted world. Perhaps this is why I have gravitated towards more singer/songwriter genres along with a bit of classic and alternative rock, alternative folk, classic bluegrass and traditional Celtic throw in for good measure.

A few years ago I stumbled upon the song “Love the Way You Lie” by Eminem and Rihanna and was stuck by the passion and emotion of the song. For those of you have not heard it, it is a song that explores the internal struggles and emotions of a couple caught in the cycle of domestic violence. Like real life, the song is raw and includes some hard theme and words (listener be warned) – yet it is honest…and for that reason it is a song I keep going back to over and over again.

One of the most powerful moments of the song is when Eminem raps the lines:

Now I know we said things, did things that we didn’t mean
And we fall back into the same patterns, same routine

This is an admission that the things that they wants to do they don’t do and the things they don’t want to do, they do. It is a re-stating of St. Paul’s words in Romans 7:15-20 – which, in turn, is a picture of the struggle between the coming Age To Come and the injustice, evil current age. Our spirits and souls know that we were made for peace and love, and yet we all seem to fall short of that goal…

Don Williams in his book “Twelve Steps with Jesus” states that everyone on the planet is an addict in the fullness of the word. Each of us have something in our lives that leaves us craving for more, which leads to that something controlling us and forces us to continue to use that it. This addiction may not be a chemical (i.e. alcohol, illegal or legal drugs), but could be an unhealthy dependence on people, something more like a masturbation addiction, a need to shop or to cover up pain with food – to name a few addictions.

So what is the solution?

Well there is no silver bullet or easy way out of this messed up world. Yet, there is a path that leads to wholeness and healing – a path that can only come into view once you acknowledge your addiction and give up control of your life to Jesus the King. He will take your broken life with all of its messed up pieces and not simply help you manage the sin – NO!! He will breathe new life into our body and lives – moving beyond repairing it beyond the point that it is better than when it began!

“We come into the world as damaged goods. We all need more than faith, or moral resolve. We often need Jesus to heal us from past wounds outside of our consciousness or control.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 says that followers of Jesus are a “new creation.” We are no longer held captives to the addiction and the crap of this world or our past. We are an end time people who are to live in the fullness of the Kingdom of God right now in this life. And yes, it can happen – it has happened to thousands and millions of people throughout the years. It requires giving up control and trusting Jesus with everything you are – and I do mean EVERTHING! I’m not talking about a 30-second prayer or simply bowing one’s knee in prayer on a random Sunday morning – I am talking about a radical life style of following Jesus wherever He takes you. To quote Don Williams again,

“We not only are called to be with Jesus, but we also are called to be like Jesus. He is transforming us on the inside by His Spirit. He is conforming us to Himself. Jesus then brings a deep, lasting security. He drives away the fears of not knowing who we are and where we are going. He shows us how to live in this world…As we become secure in the Father’s love and become more and more intimate with Him, Jesus also deals with the storms of life that have landscaped our brains. He begins healing the abuse, assault, judgments and losses that have imprinted us, restoring the biochemical balance of our craving brain.”

It is a re-wiring of our brains that happens through the power of the Holy Spirit within a safe healing community of Jesus followers and, perhaps, therapists and medical doctors. We are all in this together.