Presented by PeaceSpeaks.earth
TODAY’S PASSAGE
From “Voice Of Jesus 2” by Michael Canfield:
It started in Minnesota when I was young, behind a friend’s garage in Edina. I gave in to peer pressure and took my first puff, unaware that the habit would follow me for years. By the time I joined the Air Force, cigarettes were everywhere and inexpensive. Before long, I was smoking two packs a day. Eventually, while working for the Bank, I began to feel the cost. I found myself short of breath climbing a single flight of stairs from the bank lobby to my office. I was young, home from war, and trying to rebuild my life. I could no longer ignore what smoking was doing to me. For the first time in a long while, I wanted help — honestly and without excuse. I asked for guidance and meant it. I bought a carton of cigarettes and placed it on top of my refrigerator. Every time I opened the door, I was confronted with the image of my addiction.
REFLECTION
There’s something profoundly honest in this passage that speaks to the human condition. We all have our “cigarettes on the refrigerator”—those things we know are harming us but feel powerless to release. Maybe it’s not smoking. Maybe it’s a toxic relationship, a pattern of negative thinking, an unhealthy habit, or a fear that keeps us small. Whatever it is, there comes a moment when we can no longer ignore the cost. That moment when you’re out of breath, not just physically but spiritually, is actually a sacred moment. It’s when pretense falls away and we finally become ready—truly ready—to ask for help.
What strikes me most about Michael’s story is his radical act of confrontation. He didn’t hide the cigarettes or throw them away in a burst of willpower. He put them right where he’d see them every single day. This wasn’t self-torture; it was self-honesty. He was saying, “I see you. I acknowledge you. And I’m choosing differently.” That takes extraordinary courage. It’s the difference between white-knuckling our way through change and inviting divine guidance into our transformation. When we stop making excuses and ask for help honestly, we open a door for grace to enter.
Love—real, divine love—doesn’t condemn us for our addictions and struggles. It meets us in them. It gives us the strength to place our weakness on top of the refrigerator and look at it every day until we’re free. Faith isn’t pretending we don’t struggle; it’s believing that we don’t have to struggle alone. When we bring our honest need into the light, asking for guidance without excuse, we discover that the power to change was never ours alone to summon. It was always there, waiting for us to stop running and simply ask.
THIS SPEAKS TO ME BECAUSE…
What are you ready to stop ignoring? What habit, fear, or pattern has left you spiritually out of breath, unable to climb the stairs of your own life? Today might be your moment to ask for help—honestly, without excuse—and to face what holds you back with the courage that comes from knowing you’re not alone.
GET THE BOOK
This passage is from “Voice Of Jesus 2” by Michael Canfield — a profound journey into love, faith, and the voice of the divine.
📖 Read more at: https://peacespeaks.earth
“To remind the world that Jesus is Love — and that love is the guide to a life fully lived.”