Spiritual/Political/Philosophical Blog on the Nature of Truth and Falsehood and Heaven
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| Sunny Days in Heaven Spiritual/Political/Philosophical Blog on the Nature of Truth and Falsehood and Heaven |
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Wednesday, May 08, 2002 Holy Smokes! Martin Farkus at Zounds wants to quit smoking, especially after having read what the Bible has to say (wisely, of course) about living, "Do not court death by the errors of your ways, nor invite destruction through the work of your hands" I was finally able to quit about five years ago. I have two pieces of advice for Martin; 1) the Patch. It works pretty well with a tapering down scheme, and 2) I couldn't quit until God willed it for me; and he didn't will it for me when I wanted it and thought the timing was right, but until he decided the time was right (in the fullness thereof). For the life of me, I couldn't understand why God wouldn't help me quit when I wanted to (and it was surely his will I be free of that addiction). But God has a timetable of healing for each person and a plan which he does not deviate from simply because we think we have a better idea. So Martin, don't be too distressed if your desire doesn't coincide exactly with God's in your plan to quit. For me, my despair at ever quitting convinced me that I wasn't going to bother facing failure again. It was simply too upsetting to keep failing. So I quit quitting smoking. I gave up the cause. Then after about six months or so, I felt the slightest tap on my mental shoulder - a slight voice telling me: "try again." "No, I won't. I'm tired of failing. It's too demoralizing to fail every single time. Forget it." "Try again," I heard softly. I sighed, "All right, but I'm not promising anything to anybody, least of all myself." And I had cried buckets over previous failures, but I gave it one more try with the Patch and, blessed be God, it worked. Never had a smoke since and have been only rarely interested in smoking again. It doesn't even rate as temptation. Keep in mind the old saw, "Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans." Even when we make great plans for healthy self-improvements, God is the deciding factor. May you be blessed now, Martin, and that what you want is exactly what God wants for you, too, this moment. Best wishes. posted by Mark Butterworth | 3:51 PM | |
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