Don't Smoke 'em, Even if You Got 'em

 

I went to my second ever prayer meeting in June of 1973. As part of a class instruction before the meeting, we were asked to read John's Gospel, chapters 13, 14, and 15. 

When I returned home that night, I got out our very large Jerusalem Bible and began to read the recommended chapters. As I began to read, I lit up a cigarette. I had been smoking since I was sixteen. I especially smoked in the evening hours. Sometimes I smoked a pack a night, sometimes more. Larry never smoked and cigarettes bothered him. He hated this addiction and had asked me to stop smoking several times. I tried, but was never successful for more than 24 hours. This night, as I read the scripture and smoked the cigarette, I heard inside my head the words, put that cigarette out and never touch another one. The words were so strong that I put the cigarette out and decided I'd better go to bed. 
 

The next day I was very busy around the house, and often when I was busy during the day, I wouldn't smoke, so I had no cigarette that day. That evening, Larry and I went to our friend's house, the house of Audrey and Bob Nohe. Bob was a smoker and smoked the same brand of cigarettes I did, and he offered me one. Convinced my mind was playing tricks on me from the night before, I took one and lighted up. When I inhaled, I became dizzy and nauseated, as I'd been the very first time I tried to smoke. 
 

It was then that I realized God was doing for me what I couldn't do for myself, setting me free from my desire for cigarettes. To this day, I've not had another one, thanks to, I believe, God's intervention.