Desires Changed

Testimony of David Smith

David Smith of Muskogee, Oklahoma was raised in what the world considers a successful family and had every opportunity that a young man could want. Yet he chose to sin by living his life independently from God. He, like most people, felt that he could take charge of his own life and live just as he chose. This is the biggest deception known to mankind.

Biblical truth is “Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.” (Romans 1: 28)

David started using drugs when he was fourteen and by sixteen he was in his first rehab center.  He learned quickly how to play their system so he could get out and then go back to using drugs.  Over the next couple of years his drug use escalated to a dangerous point, so he decided to join the army in hopes to get away from wrong influences and hopefully find some good structure for his life.

He had the privilege of serving our country in Europe, Bosnia, Holland, Germany, and Denmark.  He found that even under the discipline of the armed forces he could not beat the sinful nature that is working powerfully in all of mankind. He was busted and spent thirty days in a military prison for selling drugs and lost his rank.  He spent the next year in outpatient rehab and group sessions and was on drugs the whole time.

Finally he got to go home where he kept selling and using drugs. He tried another drug rehab were he ended up in the psych ward while in the hospital.  It was there that someone  told him about Teen Challenge.  He decided that he would like to go there but had to stay with his parents a few days before going.  On April 13, 2001 David walked into the back yard and found his nineteen-year-old brother dead. He had shot himself with a 12-gauge shotgun in the head.  David’s brother wrote in a poem two months before he died “…At first it was fun, and now I’m in hell.  What must I do, to make this soul well.” David response was, “Then I really lost it.” Before things got any worse his grandparents took him to Teen Challenge.

The first night at Teen Challenge there was an evangelist singing and preaching.  David did not have any church background, so he felt he must have joined a cult.  He did not like it and tried twice to leave but he just couldn’t walk out the door.   As he thought about it he came to realize that he had been fighting against God’s purpose for creating him.  Even though he didn’t really believe in God this view of life obviously wasn’t working. 

After realizing that the people at Teen Challenge were just Christians filled with the Spirit of Christ, he decided to stop fighting.  He wrote, “The next Sunday I accepted Jesus into my life and all my desires in life changed. I don’t want drugs anymore.  All I want is to experience a life with Jesus Christ.” He now reads his Bible and these two Scriptures mean a lot to him. “For God did not give me a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7) Also Psalm 23: 3, “He restores my soul.”  David found what his brother didn’t:

Life in Jesus Christ!