Seventy-two hours is the time period that it takes for alcohol to leave your system. These are three very crucial days in the recovery of such a person, for while the substance remains in the body, it affects the thinking and control of the mind.
Once the physical withdrawal has taken place, it is up to the individual to withdraw from the places of tempting, the promises of abstinence, the problem of anger and resentment, and the people that keep them in that world.
To be very frank, the physical withdrawal is easier than the withdrawal from this world’s system, for it feeds and encourages us to do things OUR way and to continue the way we are, for “after all, we’re not having any problems!” So how then, is it possible for a person to withdraw from this world? The three-day physical withdrawal from a substance does not take away the source of the person’s problems – it merely gets rid of one of the vehicles used to ignore that source. I would like to use this opportunity to tell you about another three-day withdrawal that will make it possible for YOU to achieve total withdrawal from this world.
Day 1: The Day of Crucifixion
Soldiers take away our beloved Jesus to the place of crucifixion. It is called Golgotha, the place of the skull. Here our Lord is stripped of his raiment after being tortured and humiliated by the religious leaders of that day. This is significant, for Jesus, who took our place on the cross, endured the consequences of the guilt our sin. Slowly, but surely, Jesus Himself was withdrawing from this world. His first step, to secure salvation for all, alcoholic or not! He couldn’t withdraw unless He knew He had secured a place for us with His Father. Why did He go through this? Because our lives had become very embarrassing and dysfunctional, our core lives had become stripped away by the alcohol and abuse of our day-to-day problems. In His withdrawal, He, unlike us, was thinking only of others. Physical death had occurred, the sacrifice has been paid, but the full withdrawal was yet to come. Are we ready to die to “our” desires and allow “them” to be crucified? Or, are we allowing these desires to destroy us?
Day 2: The Day of Waiting
Jesus lies in the grave and is taking away our punishment, while destroying the tempter. His disciples only saw that their precious leader was dead and their hope seemingly gone. Yet, even on the seventh day of creation God was doing something. He was “resting”! To wait and rest is very important, it causes us to trust God and to cease from our own efforts. We began to see “God’s timetable!” In any withdrawal, the waiting process is the hardest because it forces one to think while your body is experiencing sometimes intense symptoms of the withdrawal. What kinds of withdrawal symptoms do we experience in our lives as we withdraw from the world’s systems?
Unfortunately, we must allow these things to occur in order for total healing to manifest so that we are better able to recognize the lies of the god of this world (e.g., “you can’t go that long without that substance, person, or whatever.”) It’s very important to realize that it is during this time that the withdrawal process is largely unseen, but that your victory is about to “resurrect”.
Do not be tempted to go back to your former lifestyle as if all is over as His disciples did. Just as “life” springs forth from a seed so shall our “new life” come forth in due time. (Note, when a seed is planted it is underground, therefore, unseen.) Isaiah 40: 31 tells us to “wait upon the Lord”.
Day 3: The Day of Withdrawal
Now physical withdrawal is complete. Jesus physically rises from the dead and is no longer subject to this world’s gravity, atmosphere, laws or precepts. With His death He grants us total forgiveness of ALL our sins; with His resurrection He grants us accessibility into “new life with Him”. He died for all mankind but not all mankind will choose this wonderful salvation. It was on the third day that Abraham saw the “ram caught in a thicket by his horns” for a sacrificial offering as a substitute for his son Isaac. It was on the third time when Noah “sent forth the dove out of the ark; and the dove came in to him in the evening; and lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf . . . .” Judas didn’t wait for the third day, he gave up and “went out and hung himself”. How many of us have “sold” Jesus for a bottle of booze or for the world’s recognition? Dare we think we are any better than Judas? Our problem, so it appears, is that we are too much alive to this world. We gravitate towards it instead of drawing closer to our Savior. We expect over night miracles instead of waiting upon the Lord and crucifying our desires and passions.
The three days of alcohol withdrawal will get the alcohol out of your system, but it doesn’t necessarily get the system out of you. The three days from Calvary to Resurrection will do just that if you earnestly do as Jesus Himself said, “Deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow me” in Matthew 16: 24. These three days remain the greatest three days in this world’s history, but without these three days active and living in your life, there will be no future for you. The pain and agony of withdrawal may be momentarily intense, but remember the “one” who will be in the greatest pain will be your enemy, the devil, for he will lose his hold on you. These three days are history; why not make history your story?