St. Patrick was forcefully taken by a raiding party in England when he was just sixteen playing video games and smoking in the boy’s room. Like many adolescents, Patrick took a Christian upbringing for granted. After all, his father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest.
Paddy wrote this in his “Confessions:”
“At that time, I did not know the true God. I was taken into captivity in Ireland, along with thousands of others. We deserved this, because we had gone away from God, and did not keep his commandments. We would not listen to our priests, who advised us about how we could be saved.. The Lord brought his strong anger upon us, and scattered us among many nations even to the ends of the earth. It was among foreigners that it was seen how little I was. It was there that the Lord opened up my awareness of my lack of faith. Even though it came about late, I recognized my failings. So I turned with all my heart to the Lord my God, and he looked down on my lowliness and had mercy on my youthful ignorance. He guarded me before I knew him, and before I came to wisdom and could distinguish between good and evil. He protected me and consoled me as a father does for his son.”
Video games weren’t out and I smoked pot instead of tobacco. However, I do remember drinking and weaving my motorcycle in and out of the white lines late at night when I was half asleep. To this day, I don’t know how I’m alive.
When people meet me today, they often remark about my faith. They didn’t know me in my youth. When people think on St. Patrick, they know the great evangelist of Ireland – not the one captive to his adolescence.
Through grace, the sins of our youth get swallowed up by God and time and even through our captivity. There are many who know that drill.
PORTAL TO HEAVEN: Glorious transformations, transitions and testimonies open up wide portals to heaven. Don’t be afraid to be a “confessor.”
Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, LORD, are good…I will declare your righteousness and your salvation every day… But Jesus said, ‘No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.’… I will praise you to all my brothers; I will stand up before the congregation and testify of the wonderful things you have done… Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he did for me.
Psalm 25:7 NIV Psalm 71:15 ISV, Mark 5:19 NLT, Psalm 22:22 TLB, Psalm 66:16 NLT