This is my testimony.
“Nicotine addiction begins with high-affinity binding of nicotine to acetylcholine (ACh) receptors in the brain. The end result is over 4,000,000 smoking-related deaths annually worldwide and the largest source of preventable mortality in developed countries” – Xinan Xiu, Nyssa L. Puskar, […], and Dennis A. Dougherty
Background
I can’t remember the first time I saw my dad smoking but
what I do remember is I didn’t like seeing him do it. As I grew up, I became
used to seeing cigarette butts in the toilets and the packs on the toilet
window. My dad pretty much smoked everytime and as I grew older, it became a
source of embarrassment to me. I just didn’t like seeing him do it. Then in
1997, he stopped. Just like that. It was over. When I asked him, he told me he
didn’t realise how much his smoking hurt people and especially his mother so
after one visit to see her, he decided he had to honour her and dump the habit.
We were all very happy and excited. This meant that we would no longer have to
deal with the smell of tobacco in the house, in the car and pretty much
anywhere my dad found himself. Looking back at it now, it must have been a
herculean task for him to quit the way he did but I guess grace was made
available for him. He has never smoked since then.
How I started smoking
So, you must be wondering, how did I end up smoking if I
detested it so much. My answer is simple; Life happens. When I picked up the
stick for the first time, I bought it myself. I hadn’t tried it before and I
was just curious why so many guys and some girls smoked it. If you went to my
university between 1999–2004, EVERYBODY was smoking, it was like one big
chimney out there. I may be exaggerating but you get my point. I was in my 3rd
year and going through a really rough patch, had accommodation issues,
squatting with a friend, my stuff was everywhere, if I’m to be honest, my
university life was generally a struggle from the very first day I resumed up
to this point. Being an extrovert, I had lots of friends, good, bad and ugly. I
had people who thought highly of me (because they knew about my academic exploits)
and those who thought very low of me because of what they perceived about my
personality from a distance and I don’t even blame them, I would have probably
felt the same way if I were them.
So, I basically started smoking out of curiosity and the
school environment encouraged me to continue. I had this friend from church who
had a “Church boy” personality, everyone thought very highly of him as I did.
Well, turns out he was a secret smoker and he opened up to me about it. We
became best friends and would often do smokes together in secret locations
around the campus. I didn’t feel the need personally to hide mine because I
didn’t care what others thought about my habits at the time, but I would
indulge him every time he asked.
The science of nicotine addiction.
My addiction grew with time and I soon realized after about
18 months that I couldn’t go 2 hours awake without feeling the urge to smoke.
Nicotine is a powerful drug. Maybe the most addictive substance in the world. I
was studying Biochemistry, so I knew about the science of Nicotine addiction.
All animals have dormant nicotine-binding receptors in the brain (alpha4beta2)
that once activated by nicotine binding to them (through smoking) would begin
to function as a regulator of nicotine levels in the blood. So essentially,
these brain receptors will send signals to a smoker to raise the nicotine
levels in their blood when it goes low. This is how the smoker gets addicted.
It’s a neurological reaction and anything that has to do with the Central
Nervous System tends to be irreversible and so this addiction is the most
difficult to break. I would do an average of 15 sticks a day and sometimes even
a whole pack. So, I knew I was an addict and I began to get worried.
On my 21st birthday, I tried to go 24 hours without smoking,
it was the hardest thing I tried to do at the time. I wanted to keep myself
“clean” through the day, I didn’t get to 24 hours. My craving for nicotine got
the better of me no thanks to those brain receptors. It was on this day that I
could hear a voice clearly telling me that I had to quit smoking. Growing up I
always had a companion I didn’t understand back then, it was a voice that was
always telling me stuff to do or not do. I obeyed sometimes, many times I
didn’t but He never left me, never gave up on me. I still hear him till today.
I could write a book about my experience with Him but not today. Just in case
you were wondering, Yes! I know exactly who He is. He’s my ever-present help,
the Holy Spirit of God. I accepted Jesus at 13 so He was by His nature keeping
to His end of the covenant and hoping I would someday understand the covenant I
had with Him and keep my end by becoming a fully obedient child.
So, on this particular day, I remember arguing about
quitting with Him, I made a case for myself that I couldn’t do it because I had
become so addicted and only the grace of God could help me. He responded, and I
clearly remember him saying, “you will have to quit in my house”. It didn’t
make sense. How was that going to happen? Was I to spend a whole day in church
or something and somehow be delivered? Anyways, I continued to struggle on my
own trying to quit but it was like fighting a losing battle. I knew I couldn’t
win this one, so I eventually stopped trying.
My testimony
The last day I smoked a cigarette, I didn’t even know it was
my going to be my last cigarette. It was during my NYSC year. I was invited to
a Christian Corpers fellowship programme called “Rural Rugged” by a good friend
(God bless her) and decided I was going to attend it. So that morning I bummed
what would be my last stick of cigarette and joined the pack. It was the
craziest journey of my life. We went to this very remote village in Kaduna
state and it felt like we were literally cut off from the rest of the world. I
remember wondering if the people here even knew which country they lived in.
When we got to the camp, I volunteered to join a group that was going to
announce our presence to the villagers. We split into 4 sub-groups and headed
towards the 4 corners of the village. I was beating the drum for my group while
someone was using a megaphone to speak in Hausa about our mission and where we
were camped, and the others were singing and cheering. Then I heard His voice
clearly again, this time, he asked me just one thing, “Would people think of Me
when they see you smoking?” Hmmm. I pondered over this question throughout the
time I was beating that drum until we got back to camp.
That night on camp was FIRE! It was a prayer night to
consecrate the camp into God’s hand. I had never in my life been in such a
powerful spiritual atmosphere! So, I sensed this was my opportunity to pray for
healing from my addiction. I have never previously prayed like that in my life!
I found myself using scriptures I wasn’t supposed to be familiar with to pray,
I asked God for help to overcome my addiction, I reminded him of how He helped
Peter walk on water and how I was determined to walk on this water, keeping all
my focus on him without doubting. The Spirit of God literally took over me that
night. I don’t even remember how it all ended but I knew something happened. I
believed that I was going to be delivered. Even writing this and I can still
feel the way I felt that faithful night, June 18, 2005.
Rural Rugged was the most beautiful thing I had the
privilege of being part of. God truly moved in the 2 nights and 3 days we spent
there. We had doctors, nurses, pharmacists, pastors, everyone was there to lend
a hand. I loved it! After a very successful outreach, we headed back to our
primary assignments and we all went about our normal lives. It wasn’t until a
week later, when I was invited by some corpers to hang out with them at a local
joint that I realized that I hadn’t been smoking! I had gone almost 10 days
without smoking and I didn’t even realize it! It was like I forgot the habit.
It was a miracle!
Five days later, I felt a sensation in my chest, like
something was leaving my lungs, hard to describe but I noticed that as the
sensation went on, I was inhaling more air than I had become used to. Then He
said, “I just healed your lungs”. I started to breath differently, more air was
entering my lungs and for a few hours I had to adjust to it. I realized that
all this while my lungs had gotten infected and the cells were gradually dying
from the soot I had been smoking. So, my breathing wasn’t good. Glory! He
rescued me!! In His house (The Camp) as He promised!!
Today, it is over 13 years since that night and I have
neither had the urge to smoke or missed it. He set me completely free and I am
indeed free.
I hope my story blesses anyone struggling with any form of
addiction be it sex, smoking, pornography, alcohol, drugs or even the use of
social media and TV, etc. There is Grace available for you to overcome.
Nothing, absolutely nothing is off limits with Jesus. Do not box God in your
head, you would be short-changing yourself. I am a living testimony to that.
You may think you are too far gone and there’s no hope for you but with Jesus,
there’s always a way. He is the one true way. Take His hand and let him lead
the way.
God bless you.
Spirituality Smoking Faith Nigeria Addiction
Written by Peter Agada Ali
Husband| Business Development Consultant | eCommerce |
Photographer | Writer | Critical Thinker
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