You are stronger than you think because God created you that way.  God didn’t make us to be weak.  Over the course of my lifetime enduring challenges, I have realized God made me a lot stronger than I thought.  I believe it.  His strength carries me through tribulations.  His hands push back fears and ridicules to allow me a way forward with grace.  If I can struggle 6 years with alcoholism then you can too.  I was thrilled to finally be rid of the desire to drink in fall 2007.  It was a miracle.  But it didn’t last.  So many people like me believe they can drink normally again after one year of sobriety.  It was fairly clear after several months going into 2009 that I was being sucked back in the whirlpool of alcohol addiction.  I struggled another 5 years trying to quit alcohol.  I was in despair, but I did’t want to give up.  If I can struggle with the pain of addiction for 11 years than you can too.  God created me with the strength to struggle and not give up.  God created you with strength.  Do not give up hope.  There were many times I felt too weak to continue.  You must trudge on and keep hope alive.  You must continue to move forward as Moses did even though he did not live to see the Promised Land.  Job, in the book of Job, lost everything and did not give up faith and so can you.  If you need a rally cry from the God of hope then look up youtube Pastor John Hagee’s sermons of hope.  You will be filled with the hope and the strength of God.  After finally becoming sober, I had hope and optimism to sustain it, and I have been sober 3 years and 3 months now.  The longer I am sober, the more I want to stay sober.  I wasted many years on drinking not to mention almost ruining my health.  I don’t want to waste another minute on alcohol.  Know that you are powerful and strong to overcome your trials and tribulations.  If you want to know how I got sober after AA did not work for me, then read my previous blog posts about Motivation, Acceptance, Grit, and Gratitude.