The First Time I Ever Got Drunk in the Spirit and What it was Like

I was 15. I was also battling depression because I couldn't measure up to what I thought God wanted. You see I thought God had these massive standards that were way out of reach for me. I kept striving for them and failing miserably. This had led to some pretty serious thoughts of suicide (though I would not have done it because I didn't want my little sister to have to see me like that). My family moved to Austin and we started going to a more charismatic church, lot's of friendly people with cool music.

Well I had been having a rougher month than usual (I whined a lot then if you can't tell), and was feeling pretty low about myself. Anyways we had some traveling ministers coming through and I thought it might be neat. I had no idea what was going to happen to me. I'm a little bit of a skeptic at heart. When it comes to people liking me I just don't get why. Same with God. I have no good understanding of why He likes me. Well anyways these ministers get up and we're having church as usual, every thing's cool. Then one of the minsters points out like 6 or 7 people in the audience, and asks us to stand. He starts going through and sharing what he feels God has told him about that individual. I'm dead last, left standing for around 30 minutes while he talks to all these other people. Then he has another minister walk over and stand beside me. I'm sitting here thinking to myself this is nuts, this is crazy, why am I standing here, I should bail.

Then he looks at me and for another 30 minutes pretty much lays out what I've been dealing with, what I've been thinking, and some of the biggest problems I was facing. I was floored. I hadn't told any of this to anyone at church. We hadn't been going very long and we didn't know anyone yet. How did this guy know all this stuff? Then He told me that God was letting me know and everyone else know how much He loved me.

The rest of the service proceeded normally (sort of) and then we had the evening service. He got up and talked about my family and told us some stuff that would happen came to pass about 2 years ago. I was overwhelmed. Why on earth was God spending so much time on me? Who am I? That night when I got home I went about business as usual. Brushed my teeth, got dressed for bed. As was my custom at the time I started listening to music on my Walkman. Everyone was asleep (except for me I'm a raging insomniac). I was thinking over what happened today and a feeling of gratefulness overwhelmed me.
I started telling God how much I loved and appreciated Him for what He had done. How He had made Himself known to me. That's when the room got cold. My hair stood on end. I wasn't scared, I felt GREAT, I felt cleaner inside and outside than I had ever been! I started crying and just telling God over and over how much I was thankful. The more I cried and the more I thanked Him I started getting dizzy, and then I couldn't feel my feet anymore. I felt great. I noticed my speech was getting slurred. Then I felt God impress something on my heart that I'm not sharing here. It was private and very awesome!

I decided it was time to get out of bed and wipe my face off. Well that was easier said than done. I fell out of bed into a little pile on the floor (with no pain). I somehow made it to the bathroom and was laughing at myself and the situation. Here I was head spinning, feet and hands numb, couldn't take straight to save my life. I would have failed any field sobriety test (but passed the breath test!). I didn't know what happened to me. I had never heard of anyone having this happen to them. I finally manged to crawl back into bed and went to sleep. The next morning I found myself speaking in tongues while I was walking my dog.
This was a little weird to me. No one coached me, no one told me it sounds like this, or say that. It just happened. I wanted to know what "it" was. I started studying and found out that I had been drunk in the Spirit. It first happened to the Apostles on the day of Pentecost. The Bible says they acted like drunk men. People have rationalized this away by saying it's because they were speaking in foreign languages. I've heard people speak in foreign languages. I never thought they acted or sounded drunk (except for the drunk ones that is). There are certain characteristics of a drunk person. There's slurred speech, dizziness, numb body parts, uncontrollable laughter, an overwhelming love for everyone around you (I LOVE YOU MAN). They don't start speaking French and holding them selves all postured and such. They act drunk. I did. Lot's of people have. You are welcome to say what you want, and believe what you want to, but I was there. I felt it, I enjoyed it, and no one else was around to coach or persuade me it was from God or that it was real. I had to look it up just to see what happened to me. As I studied more I learned that I also got the Baptism of the Holy Ghost that night. I read Smith Wigglesworth's book and realized we shared similar experiences yet were almost a hundred years apart.

Anyways this really began a new walk between me and God. I still have problems and I still get down sometimes. But I can also look back and remember when He made Himself real to me. He doesn't do it that way for every one. No two people's experience is the same. If you're looking for Him He will find you where you are. And it often comes in the most unexpected times and places. That was the first time I got drunk in the Spirit but not the last. I can get there again if I only let myself remember what He has done for me. When I get my eyes on Him, and off myself I can enter into a place that's sacred between the two of us. It's a private and very beautiful place. I encourage you to seek Him and find out what He has for you. I hope I have encouraged you that there is more to God than a 1 hour snooze fest on Sunday morning, He's real, He's interested and there's so much more than we've ever been told.