Favor From Above

Chapter 5 ~ Bible Study

[Edited]

Matthew looked around the little room they were in. They had passed the main church and had gone into a smaller room. Only a few people were present. They were seated in a circle in a way that each person in the room could see everyone else in the room. Matthew had taken a seat next to Lily.

It had been a long forty-five minutes for Matthew. All these people did was talk about having faith in God. Matthew laughed to himself. God was a figment of their imagination. Something they created for themselves so as to comfort themselves.

Everyone in the room seemed to be happy. It's like they were enjoying their little discussion. They were trying to differentiate between temptation and testing of faith. As far as Matthew was concerned, all of this was a waste of precious time.

"I think testing of your faith comes from God like in Abraham's case. Temptation comes from the devil. Like in Jesus' case after he did the forty days fasting." Lily said.

"I agree and I also think that temptation is meant to make you fall away from God and your faith whilst testing of your faith is meant to bring you closer to God." A girl in a green dress said.

"What about in Job's case, I mean the devil asked God for permission so was that a test or a temptation?" A guy in dark jeans and a hoodie asked.

It was then that the man opposite Matthew spoke up.

"It's 7 o'clock guys. Why don't we continue this conversation on the group?"

After everyone agreed some boy who was seated next to Lily stood up. He did the usual stuff, thanked everyone for coming, and encouraged everyone. That was until he mentioned that they had someone new in their midst.

All eyes were on Matthew. The people were clapping and cheering. They wanted him to think that they were happy to have him there, he knew better. They were hypocrites.

"We have our brother here. Please introduce yourself to us." The guy said.

"My name is Matthew."  Matthew managed to say. He wasn't expecting to be asked to talk.

"Welcome Matthew. This is Bethany assembly. We love you and we want to welcome you in the name of Jesus."

Everyone else responded by clapping and cheering again.

Yeah right. Matthew thought. Relief washed over him when the attention shifted from him to the girl opposite of him who had been asked to give a closing prayer.

"Amen." Everyone said once she was done.

"Goodbye, see you on Friday."  The boy said in dismissal.

Everyone started putting their bibles away. They greeted each other. The girls were screaming and hugging each other. Lily pulled Matthew's hand and led him towards the man he was sitting opposite to.

"What are you doing? " he whispered.

"Introducing you to the youth pastor. Please be nice and polite." Lily warned.

"Pastor Justin," Lily said whilst hugging him.

"Lily!" He said hugging her back.

Lily seemed to know this Pastor Justin on a personal level. It's like they were friends of some sort.

"When did you get back? I'm so happy to see you." Lily said.

"I got back today." He said grinning from ear to ear.

"You should be at home resting," Lily told him.

"And miss bible study? Not a chance." He responded.