“Amen,” was the response James Dobbs gave to his pastor’s recital of the prayer that began the Sunday service he attended habitually.
God was the creator of all things. He existed beyond space and time and knew every person’s thoughts and actions. He had a plan for everyone, and although he could dispense ultimate punishment, God loved all his children. God’s plan included every atom in existence, but the things that took place on Earth were the only ones worth concerning yourself with, because human beings were the only creatures in the entirety of God’s glorious kingdom that were blessed with free will. Although some scientific endeavors proved beneficial to society, science as a whole was part of a ploy by Satan to convince humanity to accept lies as truth, to pervert the spiritual lives of human beings. Sex was an act to be shared only between a man and his wife for the purpose of procreation. Life began at conception and had to be protected at all costs. These were things that James understood to be true.
James sat alone and silent a few rows back from the pulpit in Woodstone Church. He had been raised in this town, and Woodstone was the only church he had ever attended. James grew up in the foster system and never truly knew any parent as well as he felt he knew God. Nor did he feel that any of his foster parents cared for him as much as God had throughout his life. He never had the opportunity to make any close friends, and he didn’t mind this. As a child, he spent every night praying to God to bring meaning to his life, and that habit continued. As an adult, he took enough pleasure in his relationship with God, his frequent prayer, and his attendance at church services to have what he considered to be a rich and fulfilling social life. In his mind, God had given him everything he needed.
“If you’ll turn to Jeremiah 29:11 and follow along with me: ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,’” was how Pastor Gary Preston delivered the opening reading from the Bible.
Jesus Christ was the son of God and he died for all of humanity’s sins. Spreading the word of God was every Christian’s duty, and there was no more exalted a manner in which to spread it than ministry. Certain people who allowed Satan’s temptation to overtake them, or who abused the free will they were given by God to engage in lives of sin, would suffer ultimate punishment in hell. But God still loved these people just as a father still loves his child, even though he must punish the child from time to time. Sex was generally something to be shared only between a husband and wife, but all people make mistakes and all people sin. As long as people truly repented, they could be washed clean of their sins in the eyes of God. The healthy amount of money his ministry brought in was simply God’s blessing for the good work he was doing, and there was no need for modesty where material wealth was concerned because it was a gift from God himself, and all of God’s gifts were to be openly celebrated. These were things that Gary understood to be true.
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ Now what are we hearing here? For I know the plans I have for you. This is God telling us what? Is he telling us that we know the plans he has for us? No. He’s telling us that he knows the plans he has for us. He knows. Not us. And this can be one of the hardest things to accept as a Christian. You may be sitting there thinking that you know that God’s plan for you has to include a brand-new Mercedes-Benz, or it just has to include fifty-yard-line tickets to the next Super Bowl, because you want those things so bad, but guess what? What you want, no matter how bad you want it, might not be what God has in his plan for you. And it’s not just cars and Super Bowl tickets we’re talking about here. I know some of you out there right now are suffering, really suffering. Maybe you have family members who are in the hospital, and you pray so hard every day that they’ll get better, and you know God hears every word you pray to him, but your brother, your sister, your mom, your dad . . . they don’t get better. You know why? Because God has a plan for that person, too, and you don’t know what it is, and they don’t know what it is. But he does. And that’s all that matters. Learning to accept that God has a plan for you, and no matter what you think you should be doing with your life, that’s secondary to what God knows you should be doing—well, that’s one of the hardest things about being a Christian.
“So let’s say you get to that point. Let’s say you’re okay with giving up all your own personal desires in order to do whatever it is that’s in God’s plan for you. The next step might even be harder. I mean, how will you know what God’s plan is? Is he just going to tell you? Well, yeah, he is just going to tell you. Isn’t that funny how sometimes God can use the simplest thing to work his miracles? But he can only do his part. He can tell you his plan, but that doesn’t mean anything if you don’t hear it. I don’t know how many times I tell my kids to take out the trash, but guess who ends up taking it out? Yours truly—because my kids, God bless ’em, might be on their Xbox or their phone, or listening to music, and they don’t hear me because they have so many distractions. It’s hard to do, but it’s a two-way street. God’s gonna talk to you, but you have to hear him.
“So how do you hear God? You listen. Sounds simple again, right? But it’s not. How many of us in here today can honestly say we’re listening for God every day, all day? None of us can. My kids have their Xbox and their music and their phone, and you might have your bills or your job or your boyfriend or girlfriend or husband or wife. We’ve all got distractions. But that’s okay. God knows that. And God knows that the best time to talk to us is when we’re really listening, when the distractions are gone and we’re just open to hear whatever it is he has to say. So the best thing we can do as Christians is listen for God’s voice as hard as we can, as often as we can.
“And once you hear God, then what? Well, then you have to do the hardest thing of all. You have to act. You have to actually do what God tells you to do. And I know that’s hard. It’s a lot easier just to say, ‘Well, God, I know you told me to get a job or to help my family or my community, but there’s some awfully good TV on tonight.’ Well, that won’t cut it. You ever hear that expression ‘When I say jump, you say how high’? That’s exactly how God wants you to react to his voice when he tells you to do something. I mean, what do you think happened when Jesus heard his dad say, ‘Son, I have a big favor to ask of you. You might not want to do it, but it’s all part of my plan, and you just have to trust me’? You think Jesus said, ‘Dad, I’d love to help you out, but I have some TV to watch’? No, Jesus went to his disciples and he told them he was going to die for all of us, and not to worry, because even though that might sound bad, God told him it was what he was supposed to do. No matter what it is, you have to be willing and ready to act on whatever commands God gives you, to complete his plan for you. And that gets a big fat amen.”
The rest of the congregation, James Dobbs included, echoed back, “Amen.”
James spent the rest of his Sunday at home, listening for God to speak to him, just as Minister Preston had outlined in his sermon. Just like every day prior to that Sunday, God did not speak to him. James wondered what God’s voice sounded like and wondered if he’d ever hear it. He assumed that God spoke to everyone at least once, and he vowed that he would be ready when the time came for him to carry out whatever command God delivered.