They all decided to quit by midnight and a few of us who did not smoke were asked to supervise their decision. It was interesting to watch them speedily trying to finish all the packets of cigarettes before midnight. It was truly a smoke filled room, but by twelve, the resolution was in effect.
That night passed peacefully, but a couple of them, we found out later, could not control the urge and started smoking secretly. Within a couple of days, all of them who were smoking secretly began to smoke in public and soon all were back with cigarettes in their mouths. Some of them unfortunately have continued to be addicts despite their desire to stop.
It’s interesting that no addict has ever become an addict intentionally. Almost everyone who has become an addict always believed the myth that they were in control of their life and they could quit anytime. How little we know about ourselves! How easily we get deceived by our urges! ‘Surrender to win” was the caption on a huge banner that caught my attention when I went to serve in a drug rehabilitation centre many years ago.
All the inmates who were going through the rehab process had surrendered their lives to either drugs or alcohol. So, what was this call to surrender all about? To whom should we surrender and why? You guessed it right! It was a call to surrender to God who could give them a new life, new hope and a new future. But what can God do for a life that is wasted away? I remember the founder of this centre saying, “He makes Chemical dependent people into Christ dependent people”. And it just works.
I have seen how these people have turned losers into winners and the very people who recovered have become champions in helping others. I can never forget the scene of a medical doctor who was dragged out of his home almost half naked (as he refused to wear his clothes) while high on drugs. I was part of the team who went to bring him back to rehab after he escaped. It was a scene that disturbed me so much.
People with high caliber and ability become less than human while on drugs. The doctor’s wife, kids and parents were watching this awful scene with tears. “How could it be a lack of knowledge about drugs that made a medical doctor an addict?” But I guess there is a lack of true knowledge of life’s eternal purposes. God is interested in restoring every human life and I strongly believe there is hope when we trust him.
Having witnessed amazing changes in so many people, I believe the impossible is possible when we trust in God to heal and restore. This is not to negate the therapeutic process of healing administered through rehabilitation organizations. I believe, change of human will and attitude and the desire to surrender cannot be achieved by therapy alone, but supernatural intervention as well. The Bible tells us that God does not want anyone to perish, but all to have everlasting life.
With such assuring words from God and with so many witnesses of God’s intervention, why do we hesitate to go to Him for answers? Trust your life to the creator who specializes in Impossibilities.
