Summer is a wild time for many teenagers.  We as teens (especially those with driver's licences and cars) find we have a lot of freedom in our everyday lives - much more than during the school year when the majority of our time is spent in routine.  What do we do with all this TIME that we suddenly find ourselves with?  Before the summer started, I wrote down the things that I wanted to do everyday.  My routine was set and written in stone, right?  HAH!  Not even close.  In fact, I don't think I have yet to wake up at 8:30 like I had originally planned.

   Because of this lack of arrangement of my every day life, things became hectic and I became further and further from God and His light.  I got to the point where I was not having a daily time of prayer and study, and that led to my falling away from the truths that God had implanted upon my life.

   Things got their worst when a friend of mine on IRC and I got into an argument that ended in me walking away from my Christian influences on the Internet.  At that point, I basically told God, "God, I know you exist and I know how powerful and mighty you are, but I don't care anymore."  For about a week after that day, I did whatever I wanted to do.  I blocked my convictions completely out of my head and never let anything get to my heart.  I knew throughout the entire time that I would not stay in this state for long, but hey, I was having fun and that was all that mattered, right?

   Thank our Lord Jesus for His awesome grace, that when we sin, He is there to not only forgive us, but to run to us when we return from our sinful ways.  I spent that week doing whatever my flesh wanted.  When God would try to speak to my spirit or convict me, I fought hard to block Him out and to not let myself feel Him.

   I know what you're probably thinking right now.  You're probably thinking, "Why would you ever do such a thing?"  The answer is simple: I don't know.  It is the longest period of time since I have been a believer that I have lived out of the light of the Living God.  I can tell you now that I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to return to the ways of sin.  God has used my experience to strengthen me and to give me a new passion to serve Him and His ways rather than the ways of my flesh.

   Why have I told you all of this?  Why have I shared with everyone in the world the lowest point in my spiritual life?  The answer is again simple: this experience will forever be part of my testimony to the awesomeness of serving a Holy God.  His word is true and the fact is still the same: we cannot live without the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord.  It is because of Him that I was able to rise out of the depths of sin.  HE took me out of the mire and set my feet upon the rock.  I am not capable of earning my own salvation - He alone has the power and grace to give it freely to us.

   My hope in writing this article is that everyone who reads it will be touched by hearing of God's awesome love for us.  There is nothing special about me.  God is the one who has worked an awesome work in my life.  He is the one who has taken a wretched creature like me and refined me.  My hope is that God will use my experience to inspire and encourage you, my brothers and sisters.  Remember, God will always be there, standing on that hilltop, ready to run to you when you return.  Don't keep Him waiting much longer.