1KI 19:3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." 5 Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.

Isolating is when we run away from everything and everyone in order to protect ourselves and/or have a pleasure binge. We do this to feel in control of things again, and to shield ourselves from outside threats; or just to have a time of pleasure to relieve unhealed pain. We all at times pull away from others in order to recover emotionally, but as addicted people this can obviously be an especially dangerous practice since we have done so much of our addiction indulgence alone during private binges. Particularly after someone has hurt us in some painful way, we tend to want to run off and escape the cruelty that has assaulted us.

ISA 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Running away from an emotional storm or threat can seem like a good idea at the time, but usually we are not as alone as we think. There are evil spirits connected to our addiction there as well to pressure us into relapsing, or worse. Then before we know it we are off on a binge that will last for who knows how long. We fear the phone call and the knock on our door, we get paranoid, and things get pretty weird and wild until we just can't take anymore and finally seek outside help. When we isolate we cut ourselves off from all support and the ability to work through the problem or threat. Below are just a few of the dangers of isolating:

1. Overdose- It's really easy for us to forget how much we took of something and overdose.

2. Physical injury- When we're high we fall down a lot and can wake up later very injured.

3. Accidental death- We can burn ourselves, drown, or drive high and get in a fatal crash.

4. Suicide- We can become so depressed that we choose to end it all in the fog of drugs.

5. Demonic harassment- We are much more easily tempted or attacked under the influence.

6. Jail- We can get too loud, start fights with neighbors, or start making threatening calls.

7. Hospitalization- We can be taken out on a stretcher and put into a detox or psych ward.

Learning to face our pain and not running from it is a big part of recovery, but old habits can be hard to break when we are hurting. The next time you feel like running away and going on a pleasure binge just try to think back where your other loner binges have led you. Many of them lead to emergency rooms and detoxes, some lead to the morgue. Try to stay in contact with someone you trust when you feel like life has just become too much for you. Besides a good friend, talk to God when you are alone and hurting and He will be there for you. It's not good for anyone to be alone too much so keep in mind the dangers of isolating.

PS 34:18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

GE 2:18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."