Michael W. Smith on the Near Overdose That Changed His Life (Interview Snippet)

Feeling a bit disconnected in your walk with Christ?

Well, Pastor Greg Laurie has a great new book called What Every Growing Christian Needs to Know that'll help. Let's say you're feeling lethargic and tired. You know, if you have a diet of social media and you don't take time for the Word of God, this is going to have a damaging effect.

So this is just one of the things we talk about in this new book called What Every Growing Christian Needs to Know. Available at harvest.org. 17 is the age I was when I came to Christ. But 17 was the age you were at when you had a prodigal turn. What was it that pulled you away?

Away from your faith, or was there something that was drawing you? I know it involved draws. I think, well, I think that. I mean, the the whole thing began at 13 and the Jesus movement found its way into Canova, West Virginia, of all places. And so, but all while I was 13, 14, 15, all my buddies were smoking pot and drinking beer.

So, all my friends were college age. And we would all meet almost every single night having Bible studies and playing Jesus music in people's living rooms. And I was on fire. I wore this big wooden cross. I was a Jesus freak.

And then all those people. all went off to college and got married and I didn't have a support team. And I started kind of hanging out with the wrong people. Maybe I can do a little bit of that. Maybe I can.

play with the fire and I got I got deceived. That's my favorite name for the devil. I mean, he's the great deceiver. Yes. And I think he was trying to kill me.

Yeah. Wow. And he sucked me in. And then all of a sudden, It's that the fourth year of that product period when I almost lost my life from a crazy drug overdose. I knew that there was a call on my life, and the devil's trying to take me out.

And so I'm here. I believe with every fiber of my being because of my mom and dad who never gave up on me and prayed for me every single day. Did they know you were doing this? Yeah, probably not to the extent. Yeah.

Probably not. the deep stuff, but they knew I was in trouble. and they never kicked me out of the house. He never came down on me. They just kept loving me and, um, yeah.

So, what was the drug that you almost overdosed on? It was THC. It was some. Wow. tranquilizer and I thought it was cocaine and it was something else and my blood's rushing out the sides of my nose and my gosh my guy was trying to clean me up and it the two days I was like, you know, my brain was fried.

Wow. And and that's when I knew. That's when I began to pray, God, do whatever you have to do to get my attention because I think You've got to calm my life, and I'm supposed to live and bring kingdom down to earth. And long story short, I hit rock bottom of November of 1979. I lost my joy, I got depressed.

I'd really never been depressed in my life. I hit rock. bottom and uh convulsed and Twisted and I was having a probably had a nervous breakdown. I w on my linoleum floor. in that apartment in Nashville.

And for three and a half hours, from like midnight till three thirty in the morning. And then I was just like I was sore, so worn out and I felt like Beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Abba was laying on the floor with me with his arm around me. It says, It's going to be okay. And I haven't been the same since that day.