Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 8
Enda described quitting alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana “cold turkey” after praying about his addiction and then receiving what he took as an answered sign (a litter of blind kittens); how do you discern God’s providential “answers” without building your faith on signs, and what does his story teach about obedience when you feel you “can’t stop”?
Another way to ask: Enda quit alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana after praying and taking a strange event as a sign from God. How can you recognize God’s help without basing your faith on signs, and what does his story teach about obeying when you feel trapped by addiction?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The transcript suggests Enda interpreted an unusual event as God answering a desperate prayer, which moved him toward decisive obedience; yet the deeper anchor for him remained Scripture and prayer, not the sign itself. His story teaches that when you feel powerless, you can still act in obedience once you’re convinced God is speaking and you must not keep destroying yourself.
- He wrestles with Scripture about hell and the body as God’s temple, then prays: “If this…drug addiction…is going to land me in hell, please make me blind first because… I don’t think I can stop.”
- He receives what he views as an answer: “within that week…a litter of blind kittens” appeared—something he says he’d “never before…seen.”
- He concludes: “I knew I had got an answer to my prayer.”
- His response is obedience: “I quit everything cold turkey…alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana…That’s it.”
- He then endures the cost: “a very difficult phase…agony…withdrawals…a number of months.”