You need to listen to other people’s stories to know the works of God.

God’s Will is contained within our stories. According to the story and the unfolding of events, you come to know how God works. That’s why I plan to share a story with you today.

Nowadays, I am decorating the interior of God’s temple in my hometown. God inspired me to adorn the temple with human sculptures, so I asked a few of our church members to help look for appropriate sculptures. Even though they helped to buy a few, the designs of those sculptures were mediocre, so they weren’t ideal.

When sculpting, drawing, constructing buildings, or developing something, the design plays the greatest role. All of the sculptures had at least two to three things about them that were undesirable; they had been sculpted in such an abstract way that they lacked beauty and splendor.

I asked one of the church members to help find more realistic-looking sculptures. He told me that even after searching here and there, it was difficult to find one that was made in a realistic manner. However, he sent me a photo of a statue that he felt was somewhat decent. When I examined the photo, it was sculpted better than I had pictured, so I asked him to buy it. He then asked the sculptor to sell it for $6,000.

The sculptor remarked, “But it’s a work of art. I can’t talk to you if you offer only $6,000 for it.” He continued to speak, “The Ideal World rock sculptures on the pillars of the gazebo in your friend’s hometown were also sculpted by me.”

He said that buying that sculpture for $6,000 was nonsense.

Our member discovered that this sculptor had previously attended one of our churches and enjoyed our services. However, when he was asked why he wasn’t attending anymore, he said that his wife had opposed him on the topic of attending church, so he could no longer attend.

However, he was still keeping in touch with the friend who had evangelized him. He also found out that the sculptor’s wife had died a few years ago from pancreatic cancer. As a result, now he only makes sculptures.

After hearing this news, I told our member that I remembered who that sculptor was and that we should try reconnecting him to God. So I said, “Since he sculpted it, $6000 will not do. Let’s pay him the price he wants.”

The sculptor wanted at least $10,000, so I told our member, “Then please pay him that. And also send my regards to him.”

So our member went back and told the sculptor about how I was doing, shared stories with him, and bought the sculpture for around the price that he asked.

On the day when he was buying the sculpture and bringing it to my hometown, the sculptor said that he was curious about where the sculpture would be placed, so he went along with our member and met up with me.

Twenty years ago, I had counseled with him regarding his educational pursuits and recommended that he formally major in sculpting, if that was his future aspiration. Eventually, he followed my recommendation and graduated with a university degree in sculpting. He said that he’s been sculpting consistently for 20 years.

Regarding the sculpture that we bought, I asked him to share about how he had come to sculpt it. He replied that ten years ago, a monk had bought the finest marble from Italy and asked him to make a sculpture of Buddha with it. But while he was working on that sculpture, the monk suddenly died while delivering a Buddhist sermon. Therefore, the sculptor could no longer make a Buddha sculpture with that stone but ended up making a sculpture of his own design instead.

He said that he had really struggled and poured his blood, sweat, and tears into making that sculpture. He mentioned that he had sculpted it beautifully, while thinking of his deceased wife, and that it had taken him a very long time to complete it.

Furthermore, since the monk had bought a gigantic rock, the sculptor didn’t want to cut the rock and waste it, so he carved it as is (height of 240cm). Until then, he had always made sculptures up to about 180cm only.

When the sculpture was finished, a lot of people wanted to buy it. However, the sculptor didn’t want to sell it, so he hid it at the back of his house for a long time. Whenever he had a hard time, he would look at that sculpture for comfort. As a result, he grew attached to it and decided not to sell it for awhile.

At that time, another one of our church members, who is an expert sculptor of marble and had studied in a cave of marble in Italy for 5-6 years, noticed the statue and exclaimed, “Wow! That rock is really expensive and extraordinary! It’s a white stone with a slight hint of pink! Just that rock alone is worth over $100,000!”

Having heard the the full story, I told the sculptor: “Indeed, you’ve made a sculpture that belongs to God. God had told me to find and bring sculptures into this temple to make it even more beautiful. I had received an inspiration that God would allow me to find a very nice sculpture. Ultimately, that sculpture ended up being the one God had made through you! Now that I’ve heard the full story, everything’s so clear!

You made the sculpture out of the finest Italian marble—the white kind with a slight hint of pink. Since the sculpture you made has come to this temple of God, now you have also come.”

When I said this, he thanked me in tears.

Then I told the sculptor, “During the 20 years you didn’t come to church, God made you produce this statue. And now, God has made you bring it.”

When I told him that, he responded saying that he was truly grateful.

The sculptor had sculpted the statue, devoting his heart and soul. Originally, it was to be made into a Buddha statue, but later, God inspired him to make it into a sculpture that would be brought into God’s temple instead.

As I listened to this story, I was so amazed at how God has also answered my prayers. I have always been praying: “With the good rocks that God has created, people make idol statues and trouble God’s heart. Please stop them from making idol statues.”

I have been praying that God would make them produce works of art that He would be happy with instead. I realized that God has granted those prayers!

When we hear the stories of others, we come to know how God works. Stories contain God’s Will within them, so you come to discover hidden things. I hope that through one story, you will hear 100 stories and 1000 stories. Then you will come to know God’s Will.

There are also stories of how you came to believe and follow the Lord. The Sculptor of Life is the Lord whom God sent. I bless you to realize this, give thanks, be grateful, and always give glory to God while seeing His great work!