This post is written by Leslie Hudson and is published as a companion to Unit 11, Session 3 of The Gospel Project for Adults Vol. 4 (Summer 2022): From Unity to Division.

I remember the night as clearly as any other from my past, even though it was 30 years ago.

God Hears Me

I was on a fall retreat with my youth group. We were in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. At that time, my small youth group was also my primary friend group; our parents were all friends and we had interactions outside of church at school and one another’s houses. But mostly we would hang out at church, as all our parents were there every time the doors were open.

We’d spent the day hiking and doing some fun touristy things, but after dinner we settled in for a movie: The Princess Bride. I’d never seen it before, but our youth minister built it up as the cinematic masterpiece it truly is. We watched it, seated on blankets in front of a big, bulky television (this was the 90s, after all!), laughing and hoping that Buttercup and Westley found a way to be together.

When the movie ended, our youth minister set an old-fashioned phone in the center of the room. He told us to consider the spiritual implications of the movie, particularly how Westley’s unending, save-the-day kind of love reflects the love of Jesus. He challenged us to consider Jesus’s love for us and, in particular, what we would say in response to it. He picked up the phone and, setting the example, uttered the famous words from the movie, “As you wish.”

We, the ragtag bunch of friends, were overwhelmed by the moment. The love of Jesus had never seemed so real, so personal, so intimate. After our youth minster finished his conversation with Jesus on the phone, we each took a turn pouring out our hearts and baring our souls. I remember sloppy-crying professions of faith with total vulnerability.

It was the night I publicly said “yes” to my Savior and Lord. It was the first time I’d felt His presence as though He were in the room with us. It was a guidepost in my life: I was going to follow Jesus.

God Hears David

As I studied 2 Samuel 7, that one scene from my teenage years kept coming back to mind: this stuff is real. God hears us; He knows us; He loves us. He calls us; He cherishes us; and He is proud of us. And even when we consider our own ideas to be His ideas as David did in wanting to build Him a permanent temple, He doesn’t fuss. In fact, He loves the heart that is turned toward His glory, even when He says no to our thoughts and desires. And He redirects our thoughts to His character and promises, reminding us of who He is. And He takes those intense, spiritual experiences and marks them indelibly on our hearts, as though He were saying, “I don’t want you to ever forget this.”

Though David was able to cry out God’s praises and works, knowing there was no one like Him (2 Samuel 7:22), David’s moment of revelation from the Lord didn’t take away his temptation or his family problems, as we’ll see next week. But it sealed something inside him that connected him to the Lord—God’s promise was for his good, for his family’s good, and for the good of the world. Who could ever forget that kind of night?

Leslie Hudson loves her mornings of silence, coffee, and Jesus; not in that order. She lives with her husband and kids in White Bluff, Tennessee, where they raise blueberries, figs, and bees. She loves to spend her free time reading, writing, journaling, and helping others know and follow Jesus.