Left to right: Silas, Symry, Daniel, Julie felt an incredible need for them to like and respect me. I had friends who were not following God with their lives and this made walking with Him less attractive to me. Internally, I also started questioning God’ s faithfulness. I had experienced some emotional and spiritual struggles as a child, and I asked myself why He hadn’ t intervened and protected me. This made me feel more justified in choosing my own ways of living. However, the more I drifted away from Jesus, the bigger the chasm in my soul became, and the more miserable I was. My story is most clearly defined by Jeremiah 2:13“ My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”
Once I started forsaking the spring of living water, the thirst within my soul only became increasingly intense. I kept building one broken cistern after another, trying desperately to quench my thirst— but to no avail.
HimPower: What would you say was the greatest influence in you pursuing the occult?
Wiebracht: It was definitely not a quick overnight decision. It began earlier in a far more innocent way. I started seeking comfort in my friends, instead of God. Not long thereafter, I started dating. I became physically involved with my boyfriend which only led to guilt, confusion and a great deal of pain. I couldn’ t understand what I was feeling, but I was miserable. I started cutting myself when a close friend had to
24 HimPower October 2017