It was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and Michael was crying himself to sleep another night. Every day of his life had become complete misery. It started three years earlier when his entire friend group from middle school had decided to stop being friends with him at the beginning of high school, leaving him completely alone. He ended up making new friends through a Christian club at the school and started going to the church's youth group.

But the summer before his junior year, he tried pursuing a girl he liked from church named Aliyah. And he finally got a date with her the Friday before the fall semester started. During his first date with her, he tried to hold her hand, but he missed and accidentally grabbed her butt instead.

“Excuse me?” Aliyah had said, “Exactly what are you trying to do?”

“I was trying to hold your hand,” Michael had replied.

“That is not my hand, you disgusting pervert!” Aliyah had said sharply, before she stormed away. She went back to her car and drove herself home, leaving Michael alone to walk two miles back to his parent's house.

When Michael finally got home, he felt defeated, but he tried to look on the bright side that he had experienced at least part of his first date, and now he knew to be more careful next time. But he had an uneasy feeling that this was not the end of it.

And his feeling turned out to be right. Aliyah had told all her friends, who told all their friends, and now everyone at his school and in his youth group knew an exaggerated summary of what happened on their date. This led to lots of bullying and name-calling. His new nickname became “Butt-Toucher,” and a rite of passage for all bullies at his school became grabbing Michael's butt when he wasn't looking. “That feel good?” they would often ask immediately afterward, or “Did you like it?” Obviously, this was against the school rules, but it became so pervasive that it was impossible for any of the school administrators to stop it. And any time the administration made an announcement to discourage this behavior, it only made it more exciting for new bullies to take the risk at harassing Michael.

To Michael, the bullies actually weren't even the worst part. All the friends he had made at the youth group and the Christian club started ignoring him. No one would talk to him, and if Michael said something to anyone, they would either pretend they didn't hear him or they would reply quickly and quietly without looking at him. Michael could only guess that Aliyah had made everyone in the youth group believe that he was a disgusting pervert.

The only exception to this was a girl named Brittany, who would treat him like an actual human being. For a few months, she was the only teenager who would ever interact with him at the church. They were never really friends though – more like acquaintances.

But in November, Brittany's suicide was all over the local news. And it turned out that she was secretly in a same-sex relationship.

At first, Michael didn't know what to think about it, since it was so unexpected. Many people at his church seemed to think she was doomed to spend her eternity in hell because of her sin. But this confused Michael since Brittany seemed more goodhearted than anyone else he knew. While this didn’t quite make sense to Michael, he decided to trust God’s judgment.

But from then on, Michael suffered alone. For several months, Michael regularly prayed for his situation to be changed, that his classmates would stop tormenting him and that people at church would start talking to him again. But nothing ever changed. Sometimes, it got even worse after he prayed. At some point, Michael found it hopeless to try to pray for his situation to change. And his faith in God began to feel drier and drier.

He lay in his bed now, nearly a year after the death of Brittany, dried tears on his cheeks, as he sat reflecting on his life. He looked up at the ceiling and said, “God, why can't you just stop all my tormentors and let there be justice?”

In the adjacent spiritual dimension, the eyes perked up of a figure who sat in the shadows. This was an evil spirit named Geoff, and there were two smaller spiritual beings who were napping beside him. “Hey, slaves–err I mean interns!” said Geoff as he woke them up, “This is it. This is our chance. You know what to do.”

Michael was nearly blinded by a bright white light that began to shine through his bedroom window. He glanced at the clock, and it was nearly midnight so obviously it wasn't sunrise yet. Then in the window, he saw a humanoid figure floating toward his room from outside. He couldn't make out the face, but he could tell the figure was wearing some sort of white robe with a white beard and sandals on his feet.

“Michael!” said a deep voice from the figure, which seemed to vibrate inside of Michael's heart.

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“Am I... dreaming?” asked Michael.

“You can try pinching yourself to check,” said the figure.

Michael did so and noticed that he was definitely awake. As he looked around, he noticed that his bedroom started to glow in an almost heavenly fashion the longer that this mysterious being stood at the window. “Who are you?” asked Michael.

“I am the Lord your God,” said the voice. When it said “God,” Michael felt an even stronger vibration in his heart. “My name is so holy that it cannot be uttered without causing your destruction. I sent my son to die on a cross for you, to pay the penalty of your sin so you can have a restored relationship with me and go to heaven when you die!”

Michael noticed this being had said “I am,” which was how God always identified himself in the Bible. And its appearance reminded him of the description of Christ in the book of Revelation. He concluded that this must really be the God of the Bible.

Michael came off his bed and put his head to the floor at the feet of the bright and shining figure. “I am unworthy,” said Michael, “I worship you, I'm sorry for doubting you.”

“Rise up,” said the voice as it touched Michael on the shoulder.

In his shoulder, Michael sensed warm energy come into him, which made him feel stronger. “Yes, my Lord!” said Michael as he stood.

“I've been watching you,” said the figure, “I've seen your suffering, and it has made me very upset how my people have mistreated you for the past 15 months. I have shown grace during this time, giving them the chance to repent, but as you know, they chose to continue in their sin.”

Suddenly it made sense to Michael why God hadn't been answering his prayers for the past year. He was giving everyone the chance to repent! Even in situations like this, God showed so much mercy – more than Michael ever could have done.

“And the time has been fulfilled. I will now begin my judgment on your tormentors,” said the figure.

Michael held back a smile. There would finally be justice. He wondered what this would look like.

“I have chosen you to be the one to execute my justice on your persecutors,” said the figure.

“Really?” asked Michael, “Why me?”

The figure pointed at the Bible, and with a flash and thunder, it instantly flipped to the book of Matthew. The booming voice read, “Thus it is written, You have heard it said of old, Thou shalt not kill, but I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with someone without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment, and whosoever shall call someone names or say 'You fool' shall be in danger of hell fire!”

The book levitated in front of Michael so he could verify the scripture that was read.

“Your youth group and your classmates committed murder in their heart every time that they called you a name or hated you by ignoring you,” the figure continued speaking as the levitating Bible flipped to the book of Numbers, “My holy law states, The avenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer. When he meets him, he shall slay him. You are the avenger of blood. And thus it is written that they shall be in danger of hell fire!”

“How can they be in danger of hell fire if they're Christians? Didn't you die to save them?” asked Michael.

“Not these people,” said the figure, “Their faith is not genuine. The one thing I dislike more than sin is hypocrisy! Many are called, but few are chosen. And I will show you this through a task I have prepared for you. I have put onto your digital tablet a particular video that will test the viewer's faith. It is the most logically convincing argument for atheism. I want you to find all your tormentors, starting with Aliyah, show them the video, check to make sure they have no belief in God left, and then you shall put them to death. I will leave you the dagger of my judgment, which has been coated in a special residue of death so anyone whose blood touches it shall surely die.”

“You want me to actually KILL them?” asked Michael, his eyes widening.

“I want you to execute my justice,” said the figure, “The wages of sin is death. While I offer the gift of eternal life, these transgressors have rejected my offer by their lack of faith.” The figure's face grew dark when it was clear that Michael was hesitant to accept the task. Suddenly, hot flames emerged from the four corners of Michael's bedroom and started swirling around his bed, and they started getting closer to where Michael was standing. “Or perhaps you'd rather be punished for your lack of faith instead,” the voice said.

“I thought you chose me,” said Michael, feeling the growing heat of the flames.

“I can always change my mind,” said the figure as the fires began to swirl around Michael, “So what will it be?”

Michael said, “I'll do it. I don't want to, but I will because it's not about me – it's ultimately about your will, and I will trust your judgment.”

“Excellent,” said the voice as the flames died. And after an extra bright flash and a crackle, the figure was gone, leaving Michael's room with its normal lighting from the lamp-stand.

Michael noticed on his bed there was the digital tablet that God had mentioned and a black dagger. Michael felt very uncomfortable about this task that God had given him, but he figured that's probably how Abraham felt when God told him to sacrifice his son Isaac. He just hoped that God would give him a way out like what happened with Abraham.

Once the three spiritual beings were back in the spiritual realm, Geoff, who was still wearing the robe and sandals from his costume, turned and looked at the two smaller shadowy spiritual beings. “Very nice work, interns,” he said in a normal non-booming voice, smiling and nodding, “I don't think I've pulled off an impersonation like that for a couple centuries. I think the warm feelings in his heart that you generated really convinced the kid in the beginning, and I loved the illusion of the swirling flames. It was just enough of a push to persuade him to cooperate with us. And now the fun really begins.”

There was a moment of silence as they quietly enjoyed their victory. Then one of the interns asked, “What are we going to do with Michael's guardian angel? Are we just going to leave him in the trunk of my car?”

“Why don't you go drive your car into the Gulf of Mexico!” suggested Geoff, “And no, it will not be reimbursed, but you can put it as a tax write-off.”