When Reneka Smith looks back on the past 13 years of her life, she is amazed by what God has done. She was caught up in relationships and allowed others to define her but God transformed her into someone confident in the identity she had been given.

She recounts her journey in her book, Amazing Grace.

“It’s been incredible reflecting on my growth from that girl who was so lost and then becoming this woman who is found in God,” Ms Smith said.

“The beauty of this experience has been completely amazing.

“I felt led to write this book to young adults who may be in the same space I was way back when, those who don’t truly know who they are and as a result are running here and there, making some very bad decisions. I wrote it as if I was mentoring my younger self.

“For me it wasn’t about just writing a book, it also became healing for me. I can be really hard on myself any time I mess up, but looking back on those hard times I could see how God was using those to transform me.”

She felt led to write her book after a vivid dream two years ago although she didn’t act on the urge for some time.

“I did well in English in school but I’m not by nature a writer,” said Ms Smith, a management accountant with the Bermuda Government.

“I left it alone and just put it in God’s hands, but some time later I had another dream that continued on from that previous one. I looked in my journal and noticed I had this second dream exactly a year from the earlier one.

“After that I thought, ‘OK Lord, OK’, and got more intentional with writing. I didn’t want to just write a book for the sake of it, because there’s already a wealth of information out there from people. I didn’t want to add to that without being led by God.”

Her journals, which reached back to her university years, served as the perfect starting point.

“Back in 2004, my focus was my boyfriend at that time. If you read my journal entries you read he was the centre of my world and it was an unhealthy place to be in, because when something goes wrong or that relationship fails your life crumbles,” she said.

“When I got out of one relationship I automatically got into another. I was seeking men and seeking their attention and validation instead of God’s.”

The turning point, when she experienced the unconditional love of God for herself, came in 2011 while attending Prayer Explosion, a religious conference in Houston, Texas.

“I had an experience with God I had never had before and saw God move in such a tremendous way at that event,” she said. “It was just a rich experience.

“I believe the Holy Spirit wants us all to experience something powerful as believers. I became crystal clear on who God is and who He has called me to be.”

She began seeking Him earnestly, attending Bible studies and reading the word. She has since learnt how to trust God more and stop getting in the way of His plans.

“Now I believe God when He tells me to do something and know straight away that He is going to do it and do it well,” Ms Smith said. “I have seen Him do that on countless occasions, even in relation to my career.”

Next month she heads to Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to get a master’s degree in Christian counselling.

In the meantime, she is “excited for what God is going to do” with her book. “I can’t wait to see what happens in one, two or three years from now and to see where God is able to take this,” she said.

“I’m not focused on the traditional idea of success. Success to me isn’t about book sales, but it terms of people being drawn closer to God and the number of lives made whole.”

• Amazing Grace is available at Brown & Co and People’s Pharmacy for $24.95. You can also buy it on Amazon Kindle, Nook and iBooks for $9.99. Ms Smith will sign copies next Saturday at Brown & Co from noon until 3pm. Visit pursuegodaboveall.com