LET GO AND LET GOD!

 After finishing my Grade 12, I moved to Braamfischerville because it wasn't that far from Johannesburg to further my studies. My mother gave me a registration fee to register at iCollege for a Human Resources Management course. However, I loved money more than education, and I didn't register. Instead, I took the money and went to stock marijuana to make a living from selling it. Everything went well, money was coming in, and I didn't care how customers got the money, as long as they gave me what I wanted and gave them what they wanted.

With the extra money I got from my profit, I invested in the biltong business, which was founded by a friend. Things went well, but I lost track of my finances because I would just blow up the money with girls and friends. A year was enough for me to experience a downfall, and the business failed. I was exposed to stresses about how I was going to get money, instead I smoked the remaining marijuana I had, rather than getting help outside from my business friends.

The whole situation made me take bad decisions, and I started taking drugs. I felt like I was losing myself until I went back home. Few months later, I got a job as a security officer at Fidelity Security Group. People treat security officers like standing objects at the doorway, and it felt like I was losing myself again. It led me back to taking bad decisions, and I didn't even like to talk about my problems with people. I would rather go to the club and get wasted and get back home to sleep.

It became a way of living for me for a couple of months. If we don't change the environment, then the environment will change us. Couple of months ago, I always used to be anxious and distressed. Even when I put on my fake smile on, it wouldn't last longer, just like a bubblegum losing its sweetness. Waking up fully dedicated for a few hours, then back to negativity and lack of faith.

They'd be like "Wake up and smell the coffee," but what's the use of just waking up and smelling it, instead of drinking it and tasting it before it gets cold. We won't enjoy life if we don't know what's happening in this world. I still remember this other night, I was so tired of this kind of life I was living. I prayed to God to show me the way, and the following day, I received a call from a friend I used to smoke with.

He was the friend that never liked to talk about the Bible, and he was the friend that would give me a gun if I wanted one. While I was still on the phone call with him, he was like "Do you know God loves you?" I was shocked by what he just said, I felt like I'm dreaming, and I asked him to repeat, and he did so. We spoke on the phone for 2 hours, and I felt like I'm slowly coming back to life.

John 9:39 NKJV, "And Jesus said, 'For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.'" 

We started Bible studies for a week, and I felt like I need more to change in my life and to change my location.

But before I moved to Cape Town, four days before, I was with some friends, and we went out to get something to eat. While we were eating dinner, we decided to have a few drinks before going home. While we were drinking, I ended up finding myself in the middle of a fight. I nearly died that night, actually, let me say if I had listened to my friends, I would have been dead, but I chose to listen to the inner voice that stopped me from fighting back.

Luke 21:16 NKJV, "You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death."

 Ever since I decided to dedicate my life to God and take decisions based on His commandments and principles, it feels like a presidential seat. Back and let your creator take care of things for you. He can't bring you into this world and let you suffer.

Matthew 6:34 NKJV, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." 

It's written in the Bible that God will never forsake us. I'm taking it one day at a time, and it's bringing me peace.

DISCUSSION : How do you think social pressure and expectations influence our choices?