“I will not make a sacrifice to God, that is not a sacrifice "
David
My life completely changed one night on a basketball court. I was about seventeen years old and I had spent most of my life in a church of some nature. Learning to despise the fakeness and feeling like no one liked me... you see when I was really young I was abused by a group of older boys and because of that ghost of memories haunt my life.
When I was seventeen and a senior in high-school memories of exactly what had happened started coming back. I took it upon myself to deal with them and to handle it. Which was a big mistake. My inevitable solution was that death was a much more positive way to live than what I was going through. But I didn't have the courage to even do that.... which made me feel even worse about myself.
One day I was conned into going to a Wednesday night guy's class at the church. I did everything I could to avoid going but to keep up the appearance of a good boy I had to be there. What is usually done for the first 30 minutes or so of the time is playing basketball, football or whatnot. So I went out there thoroughly depressed and ready to kill myself...still not trusting church people. That's when it happened. That's when my life changed.
As I stood there on the court, I saw GOD. There was one kid there who was truly a man of God. You could tell in the way he played and joked around with the other kids that there was something different about him. And as he played you could look in his eyes and you could see God. That's the moment it became real to me. The moment that God was no longer an abstract but a reality.
I dropped to the ground right then and said a prayer...the most powerful prayer I think I have ever said. It was then that I realized I couldn't handle everything and that I needed help. And it was then that I realized that I couldn't handle it but with God I could. Right there I asked for forgiveness. I told Christ that I was sorry for running, for not giving Him the same chance He gave me... and when I realized I needed Him.
At that exact moment my life turned around... my depression was lifted and I now have this joy that just radiates from deep inside.
Now since then I've been down and I've had rough times. Some times that were not so happy... but that deep joy has never left and I know now that I have someone to lean on.
I'm not here to offer you a magical end to all your problems. I'm just here because I know the difference this one thing has made in my life and the difference He can make in yours. If any of this makes you wonder or pulls at you let me know I'd love to talk to you more about Christ and how your life can be changed.