Call me crazy but I don't know if I've ever seen a happy smoker.
Think about it.
Most of the time you see them in them following places:
- 6 inches beyond the designated distance they can be to their office building in order to smoke huddled together for warmth...not smiling.
- Standing by themselves giving glares to people walking by...not smiling.
- Sitting on a bench outside the hospital where they work as they take a break from caring for the people inside that are suffering the effects of smoking their whole lives...not smiling.
- Lighting a new cigarette with the butt of the one they just finished watching reruns of the Red Green show...not smiling.
I'm sure you can guess by now that I'm not a huge fan of smoking. It is one of the many mysteries of the culture phenomenon known as "cool" that I'll never understand.
How igniting a piece of paper that encases a bundle of toxic chemicals designed to be inhaled into your lungs which has been proven to slowly kill you can be classified as "cool" is beyond me, but I digress.
Even more mind boggling is that if you ask most of those huddled masses of frowning faces they will tell you they hate doing it. Most are not smiling because they are tough, but because they are frustrated, angry, and embarrassed. They can't believe that this little stick of cancerous dynamite has such a strong hold on them and they can't seem to stop.
We all have a vice(s) that we hate, but we still do it. I chew my fingers and I hate that I do it. My wife hates that I do it. My dog hates that I do it. However, I still chew away when I start to thinking about things I need to do.
In our spiritual lives we also have things that don't bring a smile to our face yet we still do them. We see and know all kinds of people that know what they are doing is wrong and yet seem to not be able to stop. Unfortunately, as with smoking, sometimes we believe the lie that we cannot overcome them. The grip is just "too tight" on us so we give in and keep puffing away as we slowly kill our souls.
However some of us believe another kind of lie. It is the lie that "God will never give us more than we can handle". Wow that seems really encouraging. It also is as healthy for your soul as eating off an ash tray at the end of the Sturgis Bike Rally.
If that statement were true why do we need God? I mean if we can handle everything that comes our way then why did Jesus go through all that drama?
The reality is that there is far more in our lives that we can't handle that we can. We need God's help and strength and mercy and Grace in much more that we give Him access too. But if we are ever going to overcome the vices and obstacles in our lives we need God involved. We need Him to handle it the right way and not have us mess it all up like Aniston does her potatoes on her high chair.
So if you made it through this whole thing and are a smoker I'll leave it up to you to decide what you need to do about your smoking.
But as far as our spiritual lives are concerned, I'm hoping you and I can stop trying to manage our vices and sin on our own and start to let God stop them out under the heal of His boot.
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