Altitude Sickness Poem by Nikolai Curtis

I was a thirteen years old boy
High on God as you can be
I focused on the things of God
Doing my best to know him
Seeing what he wanted from me
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Knowing who I am in Christ
I knew I was called to preach
I devoted all of my time to him
Being fluent in action, grounded in truth
I felt like I was on top of the world
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I would read and meditate on Gods word
Be in the spirit for days upon days in and out of prayer
I would be a servant in his church and to God
Practice preaching in church to mature my calling
Boy I thought I had it made, being on the mountain top
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But I caught altitude sickness at fifteen
Before long, I was not doing much with God
My insecurities and immaturities clinched me
My Pains, Confusions, and fig leafs gnawed me to death
The arrows kept coming, kept piercing
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My Confidence was dropping
I was losing my focus, my high of God
The enemy set up camps in all regions of my soul
tormenting me, and keeping me back and bound
I could not break through the garrison's camp
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My mind and heart were occupied with the garrisons of the enemy
I was wondering why I was this way
I ask myself, why these things were happening?
And why people thought I was haughty and weak?
I was so desolate, my trust in God went out the window
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I was still growing in the things of God
Being in the spirit, in church, being a servant
However, I felt like I was losing territory to the enemy
And I was too weak to fight back any longer
But God was sending his garrisons, one by one
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The pressures kept mounting
And I kept stumbling all over the place
Flickers of Hope were fading fast
As figleafs poisoned me with their figs
In agony, I hid my help so no one would see
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At eighteen, the enemy's garrisons tried to seize me
Getting me to sign resignation papers
My heart was so weak, that fortress took over
So everyday for years my heart was tormented
My fire for God turned into an avalanche of snow
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I forgotten who I was
Every night I question my salvation
I cry for the enemy's garrisons to go away
I question my calling, my maturity, myself, since I was a mess
Things were being exposed, I never understood
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I could not fight that garrison, for it was locked from my grasp
Jesus became a distant memory
As that garrison kept fighting, kept pulling
So I coasted my life by myself
With an empty, rebellious void that God once filled
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Although These things were taxing
I didnt sign on the dotted line
I chose to draw my sword instead
To climb to the top in full surrender
to the God who saved me many years since
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In effect, garrisons of righteousness developed in me
That fed on the waters of life
Big and powerful they spread out
They grew in maturity and in health
As the enemy's garrisons left one by one, in fear!
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God has sent his promise
That the enemy's garrisons will flee
His garrisons will take deep root
So I will come up strong and mighty
Doing Great Exploits in all excellence
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I will take the message of Christ
To all areas of the world
proclaiming his name with all confidence
knowing that he is doing a good work in me
In all Eternity, forever and ever
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For the War is raging in our souls
To fulfill what God wants for us
As we live our lives to the fullest
We choose the side
We choose our outcome