This happened back when my son, Jonah, was not quite yet a teenager. He came to me with a rather difficult question:
Dad? How do we know we’re in the right church?
I asked for clarification.
I mean, we go to a Vineyard Church, there’s like Lutheran and Catholic and Presbyterian and even Mormon and Jehovah’s Witnesses. There’s so many churches. How can we be sure that we’re in the right one so we believe the right things so we can get to Heaven? What if we’re wrong?
This was awhile ago so the conversation is heavily paraphrased. This is the approximate tone.
As someone who is always overthinking, I had stuff I could say and was, of course, ready to say it. However, I distinctly felt the Holy Spirit holding me back. It was as if God was saying, “Hold up, Chuck. I got this!”
So I asked Jonah if he’d prayed about it. He said he hadn’t and certainly would. I cautioned him that he might not get an answer right away, so he should keep praying.
I checked in a few days later. He hadn’t heard anything back. Same after a couple more. I stopped checking in. Then, I want to say it was at least three weeks later, he came to me so excited!
Dad! Dad! God finally responded! He told me how it works!
I was taken a bit back and, in my ego, was prepping myself for some damage control; I was thinking that God’s “response” was really a young man’s imagination. But look at what he told me:
Dad! God asked me “Do you know I love you?” And I said I did. He then asked me, “Do you believe that I want you to come Home with me?” I said I did. “Do you believe that I can get you here?” I said I did.
And you know what he said, Dad? He said, “Then follow me and I’ll take care of the rest.“
I had nothing to say to that. What can I add? With God’s love and power, what do we have to worry about? Nothing can prevent him from taking care of us!