Just a few moments ago I realized that April 12 had come and gone a week ago...a date that I have waited on for quite sometime...the 20th anniversary of God's deliverance...the 20th anniversary of being smoke free!
It was April 11, 1992 and I was smoking four packs of cigarettes a day (I had been smoking since I was 15, and I was 31 at that point)!!! I had tried to quit smoking many times, but couldn't. Even though we weren't doing a very good job of it, John and I had committed our lives to the Lord, and were serious about getting our lives, and our household, in line with His Word. Needless to say, we're still working on it!
On the evening of April 11, 1992 I was sitting in a chair in the corner of our bedroom reading my Bible. I heard a voice just as clear as day say, "Throw away your cigarettes and lighters away and wait 24 hours."
I immediately picked up all my cigarettes...I had an open pack, an open carton, and an unopened carton...and all my lighters and went carrying them through the house. John was in the livingroom and, when he saw me, he said, "What are you doing?"
Anyone who know my husband knows that he HATES cigarettes (he always has), and he hated me smoking them, but he was skeptical. He knew how many timed I had tried to quit smoking before...and how often I had failed. He knew how awful my lungs were. Not only did I smoke like a chimney, but I had chemically burned the lining out of my lungs a few years earlier when I mixed sulfuric acid and Clorox in an attempt to unclog the toilet. I ended up in the hospital. After that I could hardly breathe most of the time...I couldn't even blow a balloon up for my children to play with!
Anyway, I threw the cigarettes away, and I waited. That 24-hour period was one of the longest...most awful times of my life, and I never thought I'd make it through it...yet, somehow, I knew, if I did, that the Lord had something very special waiting for me on the other side. I knew that He was going to do something very special for me!
Well, sure enough, the next night...the evening of the 12th...I was sitting there reading my Bible. All of a sudden I had the most horrendous pain in my stomach. I looked up at the clock, and it was 11:00 p.m. I jumped up and had to get to the bathroom. I was there until 4:00 a.m. My stomach hurt so bad! It wrenched in pain, and I kept passing this black, tarry-like substance. When it was over, I KNEW that the Lord Jesus had, literally, cleaned me out, and, to this day, I've not been able to stand the thought of smoking another cigarette. I can't even stand the smell of one! It's been 20 years (and one week) I still stand in awe of what the Lord did for me!
Do you have an addiction? If you do and you'd like for me to join you in prayer for deliverance from your situation, please, feel free to e-mail me privately at proverbs31heart@yahoo.com (please put PRAYER on the subject line so I don't delete it by mistake) and I will be happy to join you in prayer over whatever it is that might be holding you in bondage today. Be assured...the Lord is able! I've experienced it first hand! Blessed be the name of the Lord! And God bless YOU!
It was April 11, 1992 and I was smoking four packs of cigarettes a day (I had been smoking since I was 15, and I was 31 at that point)!!! I had tried to quit smoking many times, but couldn't. Even though we weren't doing a very good job of it, John and I had committed our lives to the Lord, and were serious about getting our lives, and our household, in line with His Word. Needless to say, we're still working on it!
On the evening of April 11, 1992 I was sitting in a chair in the corner of our bedroom reading my Bible. I heard a voice just as clear as day say, "Throw away your cigarettes and lighters away and wait 24 hours."
I immediately picked up all my cigarettes...I had an open pack, an open carton, and an unopened carton...and all my lighters and went carrying them through the house. John was in the livingroom and, when he saw me, he said, "What are you doing?"
Anyone who know my husband knows that he HATES cigarettes (he always has), and he hated me smoking them, but he was skeptical. He knew how many timed I had tried to quit smoking before...and how often I had failed. He knew how awful my lungs were. Not only did I smoke like a chimney, but I had chemically burned the lining out of my lungs a few years earlier when I mixed sulfuric acid and Clorox in an attempt to unclog the toilet. I ended up in the hospital. After that I could hardly breathe most of the time...I couldn't even blow a balloon up for my children to play with!
Anyway, I threw the cigarettes away, and I waited. That 24-hour period was one of the longest...most awful times of my life, and I never thought I'd make it through it...yet, somehow, I knew, if I did, that the Lord had something very special waiting for me on the other side. I knew that He was going to do something very special for me!
Well, sure enough, the next night...the evening of the 12th...I was sitting there reading my Bible. All of a sudden I had the most horrendous pain in my stomach. I looked up at the clock, and it was 11:00 p.m. I jumped up and had to get to the bathroom. I was there until 4:00 a.m. My stomach hurt so bad! It wrenched in pain, and I kept passing this black, tarry-like substance. When it was over, I KNEW that the Lord Jesus had, literally, cleaned me out, and, to this day, I've not been able to stand the thought of smoking another cigarette. I can't even stand the smell of one! It's been 20 years (and one week) I still stand in awe of what the Lord did for me!
Do you have an addiction? If you do and you'd like for me to join you in prayer for deliverance from your situation, please, feel free to e-mail me privately at proverbs31heart@yahoo.com (please put PRAYER on the subject line so I don't delete it by mistake) and I will be happy to join you in prayer over whatever it is that might be holding you in bondage today. Be assured...the Lord is able! I've experienced it first hand! Blessed be the name of the Lord! And God bless YOU!
Rebecca, what a testimony of God's care and faithfulness to carry you through! I praise the Lord for the gift of your encouraging, beautiful, blessed life. Thank you for sharing this. I will remember this each year when we celebrate the birthday of our son, Samuel. He was two years old the day your freedom came. God is only good all the time. with love for you. <3
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