And there the Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief, in order that, even so late, I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my insignificance and pitied my youth and ignorance. And he watched over me before I knew him, and before I learned sense or even distinguished between good and evil, and he protected me, and consoled me as a father would his son.
One minute Patrick is walking in a field and the next invaders flood down on him. They snatch him up with thousands of his friends and family. Patrick ended up in a part of Ireland as a slave.
The change in his life caused a change in his awareness of God. So often this happens with nonbelievers and believers alike. Trouble has a way of waking us up to our need for God.
The teen now a slave and alone. The people captured with him having been dispersed across the lands. Memories of Sunday services and maybe a grandfather’s sermon reminded him of the Lord who loved him. Patrick says that in this experience he became aware of his unbelief.
Even as a Christian, I have been drawn back to God and drawn closer to the Lord through rough events. Some times it is only through trials that we can learn to lean on God. We learn what it means to actually trust Jesus. It’s easy to say you believe when you don’t or to act like you trust when you never have. Times of trouble provide an opportunity for each person to see if their faith is all talk or if it is real. Looking back on my life almost all my growth in relationship with God has developed in the mist of trouble.
Patrick realized through this experience that he never had a personal faith in Jesus. You can not become a Christian until you are capable of looking at your past and being honest. This is where we find Patrick. He acknowledges he has not been trusting Christ. He admits his sinful ways. He turns to God and trusts him for the salvation of his soul. Jesus becomes Lord of his life.
Patrick as a slave became a slave to Christ. He no longer was tied to sin but a servant of righteousness.
Roman6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
Nothing will ever be the same for Patrick.
Fourth Day Adventures 