No Smoking

I need multiple miracles that I've been praying for. However, as I've mentioned before, not much seems to work in the desert. Mostly, it's been a lot of waiting while trying to do all the right things. It's very difficult and very discouraging. I was at church the other night, when I started thinking about when I smoked as a teenager, lo these many years ago. By the way, going to a service helps keep the devil off my back even if there's nothing special in the message for me. Spiritual attacks are diminished somehow. Watching something on TV isn't the same.

I smoked for several years as a teen before I quit at 20. I'd tried quitting various times before that last time. It took three months. During those three months, I craved a cigarette every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every fortnight of every month. I sure got a lot of reading done trying to distract myself from the constant struggle not to smoke. It's easy to say but almost impossible to describe how hard those three months were. It was a non-stop battle.

Then one day three months after I quit, it was like a switch was flipped. I no longer craved cigarettes. It was literally an overnight thing. Smoking wasn't part of my life any more. A few short years after that, I had to remember that I used to smoke. When people talked about smoking or needing a cigarette, I didn't relate to it anymore to the point where I actually had to remember smoking. At first I wouldn't even think about when I used to smoke. Why would I? It's the same way today. It's like, "Oh, yeah, I used to smoke."

So, while I was sitting in that service, I suddenly realized something I didn't consider when I was trying to quit smoking. That epic, three-month struggle was resisting the devil to get him to flee. It didn't happen overnight, but he did flee in the end. Today I have permanent victory over cigarettes if I want it. I'm sure I could somehow smoke again, but the victory is mine to maintain.

Maybe these miracles I've been praying and waiting for are like quitting smoking. Maybe there's some kind of satanic hindrance that I have to resist through to reach the victory. There seemed to be a set time period for quitting smoking. Maybe some of the hindrance today has a set time to end. If you've been struggling to get an answer, maybe it's the same for you.