God is with us even at our lowest points
Sam Madrigal is a theology student who has been working with the Youth Rush team for the past three summers. But how he came to this position is a story about how God can lead us, no matter where we are in our lives.
Madrigal was born in the Central California Conference, and grew up in a family that was connected to their local Adventist church. He attended the church, but during his late teens he began using meth amphetamines and became addicted. Even during this period of his life, he continued coming to the Adventist church occasionally for its community and connection. But eventually his addiction separated him from the church and left him in a pit of hopelessness.
Describing this part of his life, Madrigal says that his habits started becoming stronger, and his fear of God became weaker. “I would see people focused on church and I'd be like, Man, I wish I was like them,” he explains.
At this point of despair, the one thing that was able to bring Madrigal back to God was reading the Bible. He decided to begin reading the Bible because he had tried everything else and was out of options. “When I started reading the Bible, God got in between me and my addiction. He took me off that addiction. Reading the Bible also started reconstructing my head. I had induced schizophrenia from the meth, and it took that away and brought me back into normal society,” he explains.
One part of the Bible that spoke clearly to Madrigal is Ezekiel 36:25-26 (RSV), “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
God was able to take away Madrigal’s addiction, rebuild the connection, and put a new spirit into him. This led Madrigal to pursue a degree in theology. ”A strong desire came into my heart that I was trying to ignore at first, to go spread the word, to show what God has done in my life, and what the word can do in other people's lives,” Madrigal says. He now has about a year left in his theology degree, then he plans to continue using what God has given him to inspire others, no matter where the Lord sends him.
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