64 - Earnestine – “I’ve been smoking for 60 years. I know it displeases Abba, but I can't stop.”
“Michael, PLEASE help me. I’ve been smoking for sixty years and no matter what I try or how hard I have tried over the last five years, I cannot stop! I’ve read the word about all of it, but I still can’t stop smoking. I also tried a program called Smoking Sensation with Sloan Kettering, nothing helps, please Michael, I Beseech you. When you have the time will you please give me instructions STEP by STEP beginning with the first STEP then the second STEP, etc. and what to do between STEPS.
I consider it more of a HABIT then an addiction because when I go out into the world, I go without smoking, because of my disability, it’s impossible to stay busy all the time, so it’s when I’m home that I can’t stop. Imagine you have been doing something every day of your life for sixty years then suddenly you must STOP, to me it’s like trying to stop eating. I believe I cannot do the suffering part after trying over and over, to quit smoking. I’ve done much suffering in other situations and have won, but with smoking I am unable as of now, and I am willing, just can’t. I need to get rid of this. It is a heavy burden on my heart daily.
Please Help me Michael to do this. It bothers me every day that I am not pleasing Abba.”
More Than a Conqueror: Overcoming Addiction Through Faith
Do you feel like sister Earnestine, trapped by a habit, a craving, an addiction that whispers promises of fleeting pleasure while tightening its chains around your soul? You are not alone. Many struggle with the insidious grip of addiction, but there is a powerful hope found in Jesus Christ.
The enemy wants you to believe that you are too weak, too far gone, too bound by your past to ever experience true freedom. He whispers lies that God looks at your age, your weakness, your limitations, and deems you unworthy of deliverance. But these are lies straight from the pit of hell.
God's Word declares, "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." (2 Peter 1:3) Everything. That includes the power to break free from the chains of addiction.
Perhaps, like the Israelites wandering in the desert, you are not receiving God's grace because you simply don't believe Him for it. They saw miracle after miracle, yet their hearts remained hardened by unbelief. "For they did not believe in God or trust in His deliverance." (Psalm 78:22) Their focus was on their cravings, not on God's faithfulness.
Where is your focus? Are you fixated on the immediate gratification of your addiction, or are you fixing your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith? (Hebrews 12:2)
"If you can?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." (Mark 9:23) Do you believe my brother or sister? Do you believe that God can set you free?
It won't be easy and you may have to suffer for a time. The sinful nature "desires what is in conflict with the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want." (Galatians 5:17) But "live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." (Galatians 5:16)
This means choosing to deny ourselves, moment by moment, even when your body screams for the temporary relief of your addiction. It means crying out to God, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24)
There is no cigarette, no drug, no substance, no habit that tastes as good as freedom from sin feels. Trade your ashes for beauty, your mourning for joy, your despair for praise. (Isaiah 61:3) Breathe free, in the life-giving embrace of Jesus Christ.
