Seek the Lord

I have been working as a correctional nurse for many years now. I have seen many people from all walks of life, young or old, that are trapped in the cycle of substance abuse. Despite the many efforts and war against not using drugs or alcohol, most of the jails now are crowded. Coupled with that is an increasing number of people who have mental health needs or problems. I saw Mr. X brought by the unit deputy down to Infirmary where we can treat sick inmates. He was just housed after being booked and few minutes later, started having tremors and his breath still reeked with alcohol, despite the many hours they had kept him in a sobering cell. He could walk but his face was flushed and his blood pressure was high. Asking him to raise his arms to his side, his shaking was noticeable. Earlier that afternoon, a nurse had already given him a medication to prevent alcohol withdrawal. It wasn't enough perhaps. Mr. X admitted to daily, heavy use of alcohol. The doctor just advised us to give another dose of this medication. Few hours later, the blood pressure remained high and he started throwing up. We ended up sending him to emergency room to be evaluated and be monitored. Many of the nights I had worked like these make me think how sad it is to see people unable to get out of this kind of nightmare from substance abuse. Many tries desperately to seek medical help because they are not able to get that when they are not incarcerated. But they end up doing the same things over and over. We are all the same. Spiritually speaking, we are entrapped with having sins in our lives. We do them over and over even if sometimes we don't want to. When we are tired, when we want to be helped, when we want to stop, we can confess our sins to a good God Who never fails to love us. "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord that He may have compassion on him and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." - Isaiah 55:6,7.