From anointing to addiction

Have you ever wondered why so many people that have been used greatly by God end up finishing miserably, often addicted to alcohol, drugs, money, food or sex?
 
God used Lonnie Frisbee to spark the Signs and Wonders movement that came out of the Jesus People Movement in the 1970s. Signs and Wonders theology was further developed by John Wimber and Vineyard, and it has impacted the Charismatic movement worldwide. Lonnie Frisbee died of HIV after numerous homosexual encounters, never overcoming his homosexual addiction.
 

A. A. Allen, the great healing revivalist, was found dead in his hotel room, surrounded by alcohol and pills.
 
In the Bible, Samson got addicted to sex which became his downfall.
 
Today, I know many ministers who have once operated in the power of the Holy Spirit, but are now struggling with alcohol, sex or drugs. And nearly on a weekly basis we hear about some ministry failure, as ministers have got addicted to these same substances.
 
You might think that all this is due to our fallen nature, and to a certain extent, it can be explained through that. But for years I have wondered what makes someone who has clearly been used by God to bring God’s presence and His supernatural manifestations to make such basic errors of judgment in the area of drugs, sex, power and alcohol.
 
I know now that it is because of the addictive nature of the anointing.
 
When I was around twenty, I encountered the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit for the first time after a short season of inner brokenness and depression. For the next four years, I would spend 3 to 4 hours in prayer every day, not because I had to but because I craved for God’s presence and He was there!
 
But like alcohol, drugs and sex, continual God’s presence also affects our brain, and, emotionally, many people get addicted to the atmosphere of God’s presence. We can see that during revivals when many Christians become addicted to seeking the next revival high.

To me, God’s presence and anointing have provided the most satisfying emotions I have ever experienced, and I think these emotions are absolutely necessary for our spiritual wellbeing.
 
But what happens if God’s presence departs?
 
When God’s presence departed from King Saul’s life, he first looked for someone who was carrying it, hence he hired David to play harp for him. Hence many leaders who have lost their anointing initially surround themselves with anointed wingmen—until those wingmen also lose their anointing because of their leader.
 
But you can’t live off the presence of God someone else is carrying, and eventually, King Saul departed from God’s presence altogether. But the anointing that King Saul carried had opened him to the supernatural dimension, and King Saul ended up consulting occult sources for counsel.
 
Often, when the anointing departs, people seek to substitute the emotional high, relaxation or peace they have experienced with something else, and end up becoming addicted to things that can provide an emotional high—alcohol, sex or drugs. Others become greedy, as they seek for a variety of emotional experiences, and producing those experiences takes a lot of money. That’s why within the prosperity gospel camp there are many leaders who used to abide in the presence of God but today they seem to be consumed with very expensive emotional highs.
 
Another thing the anointing of the Holy Spirit does is that it exposes us to the supernatural. Hence many people who used to walk in the presence of God end up being addicted to false, demonically charged doctrines and power sources. Today, there are many who claim to derive their ‘healing’ power from ministering angels, even when God’s Word is clear that only God can heal. Once they were powered by God, now they are content with being powered by any supernatural source, as what they are really hungry for is exercising power—in front of people—which gives them an emotional high.
 
Others begin to emphasise their position and institutional authority, as wielding earthly power can also give them an emotional high. Others merely put up a good show, as performing on stage can also give you an emotional high.
 
It is dangerous to ask for anointing but it is even more dangerous to lose it. Hebrews 6:4-6 says,

“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”

If you are experiencing God’s presence and power but also struggle with addictive impulses, you are in danger of being dragged into a bondage to sin through the deception of demonic forces around you. What you must do is to resist those addictive urges, but more importantly, let the presence and grace of God complete their good work in you. Otherwise you will end up with an addictive substitute that won’t ever satisfy your soul.

And you won’t finish well.