Freedom in His love
I greet you, my dear now brothers and sisters in Christ! I would like to share with you my testimony of the glory of God that came into my life.
I grew up in a traditional family: mother, father, and sister. By the standards of this work, my parents were good and law-abiding citizens with only one exception – they smoked. Yet they themselves always taught me to not do the same thing they were doing. Saying that smoking is unhealthy for the body. Yet I, like almost all children, wanted to imitate them. Therefore at the age of 7, I smoked my first cigarette.
When I was a teenager my family immigrated to Israel. It was there that my second sister was born. At the age of 15, I first tried to smoke marijuana, and it quickly became my habit. My friends at school all had the same interest.
Slowly but surely I started to try the more serious drugs. The reason is my desire to be accepted by others and to grow up. In this circle of friends with interests in drugs, I felt I was understood and accepted. Yet while being part of this circle of people in my academics I began to sharply fall behind as I began to skip school. My father began to ground me, but this only hardened my heart to continue what I was doing in a greater measure.
~Valera Katzman~
In my conscious mind view, I split my world into two. The first being the criminal world and the second the law-abiding. The first group’s goal was to steal, but the latter was to put the first behind bars. Therefore my goal was to avoid being caught. This gave me lots of adrenaline and became my passion.
I started to receive my first jail sentence. When back out on the streets, my actions again were preparing me for the next bigger sentence. The devil was very successfully using me and working through me. I completely became a slave to sin, and I saw no alternative but to continue serving it. As the scripture states in Romans – “But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” (Romans 6:17-18).
There is a drug called Methadone, which is a synthetical drug belonging to the opium group. This drug is officially given out by the government for “incurable” drug addicts. For many years I avoided this option completely until one day when the circumstances so happened that I was heartbroken after broking up with a woman with whom I was in love. I ended up once again in prison but this time in complete depression from the betrayal. This gave way to my first use of methadone.
With the introduction of this drug in my life, I began to dim. Though it the enemy of our souls began to destroy me from the inside. Until this time Satan was destroying lives through me, but now came the moment that I understood that he wanted to destroy specifically my life.
When once again I was released from a long sentence. I headed straight to “Tahanu” – a famous place in Israel where incurable drug addicts come to purchase a dose. In this place, often you can see people dying from drugs. Before I avoid this place, but now all of the sudden I stay and started using psychotropic drugs. These drugs enticed me. I fell into an even darker addiction. The devil completely bound me. I could not escape this never-ending closed loop. I had no strength to leave the Tahanu.
All of a sudden God started to send people my way. It was those whom I knew in my criminal life, who now I found were forgiven by Him. Those whom He saved. They were all miraculously set free from their many years of addiction. The testimony of one of these old acquaintances touched me and sewed the words of hope into me, and they began to grow.
The more I attempted by my own strength to get out from the Tahanu, the deeper I fell and my situation became worse. To the point that I became paranoid. I constantly had a picture in my mind that I was being pursued. In this state, I ran up unto a roof. There I heard an inner voice of satan telling me: “How long can you live in this state? Just jump off and everything will end“. At that moment the residents of the house on whose roof I was, noticed me and immediately called the police. The Police came and talked me out of committing suicide by jumping off the roof.
After a while, I was again locked up, and about a month into the sentence I finished going through the withdrawals and started to consciously analyze my current state. It was there in the jail cell, I started hearing the gentle soft voice of God in my heart. God gave me the understanding that it is only He that is able to grant me freedom from my bondage and give me a new life of liberty. I understood that I really would love to live, but with my own strength, I will not be able to overcome the sin. I continued my sentence for 7 months and it was at that moment that I clearly made a decision to follow after God.
As soon as my sentence came to an end I returned to the Tahanu, where the Christians would daily give out food to the people. I wanted to join the rehabilitation program in which the man that testified to me received his salvation. Upon coming there the ministers gladly accepted into the program and surrounded me with much care and attention. This is how my process of rehabilitation started.
In the center, God granted me repentance. Only He was able to give me freedom from drugs and cigarettes. Glory be to Jesus Christ! I never want to lose this and exchange it. I believe that if I will continue to abide in a close relationship with Christ and His church, I will be able to keep this treasure of new life and one day I will be able to meet face-to-face with my savior. This same thing I desire for everyone that is reading my testimony.
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[a] Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:22-23)
May God bless you!
– Valera Katzman –
