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| Photo Courtesy of: Gamertherapist.com |
“….And they shall be safe in their
land, and shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their
yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of
them. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen…” (Ezekiel 34:27-28)
This post
discusses one of, if not the biggest enemy known to man: Addiction. Addiction as
defined by Merriam Webster dictionary states: A strong and harmful need to regularly have something (such as a drug)
or do something (like gamble) and to have an unusually great interest in
something or a need to do or have something.
For the sake of
this discussion I want to focus on that part of the definition that states, “A strong and harmful need to regularly have
something…” and that something was nicotine. I was a smoker for almost 20+
years, smoking almost a pack and a half a day. I tried the patch a few times as
well as Chantix, both of which failed miserably.
I remember once
having stopped a long time ago when I first gave my life to Christ, for about 6
years. Like an idiot, I forced it back down my lungs again when I began
experiencing marital problems. But on Jan 7th my life changed.
I was watching
a video clip on Facebook where a bold woman of God by the name of Dr. Iona Lott
from Detroit, Michigan was asking the question, “Are you a Christian? Or, is
Christ In? What the evangelist said had me doing a self-examination and further
provoked me to take a good hard look in the mirror. What was my life really
saying about my relationship with my Father? How was I really portraying my
love toward Him? Myself? And equally as important, my children and
grandchildren? What was I allowing this addiction (bondage in action) to do to
me?
The answer that
night just as it is this night is simply, “I want to live…an abundant life.” I
want to live a little longer and most certainly a lot better; healthy and
whole. I saw how my grandmother died from smoking. Emphysema is one of the most
aggrandizing illnesses a person can suffer and I refuse to go out that way.
Lying there in
bed I “turned my face to the wall” as King Hezekiah did and said to my Father,
“I don’t want to die like this – I need you to take this dreadful addiction
away and please don’t let me be tortured with the taste, and struggle of giving
this up.” I experienced a miracle!!!
Within minutes of asking and believing it was done! I was freed! It didn’t take
12 Steps, 12 patches, 12 more times, nor 12 more prescriptions of anything…it
took the power of God to release me from such horrible bondage. I feel like a
prisoner being freed from a horrible dungeon. With tears of joy and gladness of
heart I purposely regale this experience so that it will give others hope of
being liberated from whatever addictions they may be challenged with. It
happened for me in an instant – that means it can happen for others as well.
Have you ever
experienced anything similar to this? Are you currently challenged with an
addiction of any kind? Or, have you just recently been freed from one? I’d love
to hear about it. Let’s talk.
L.G.
P.S. If you
want to view the highly-impacting video that made me confront myself, please
visit the URL below: 
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