By Dr. Jacquelyn Simmons
Scripture: When Jesus came into the Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16: 13-19).
During this oft times painful life s journey, God gives us some very, very painful what appears to us to be impossible tasks to try and fulfill for His Glory. For reasons unknown to me He gave me the assignment to apply for a Chaplin position at a hospital as a volunteer. I was referred to the head of the hospital in order to try and fulfill His assignment. Upon requiring of her, I was referred to the person who was head of Chaplin services. Evidently, I was expected because I was invited into his office immediately. He was very polite upon my entry. But after hearing my request, He seemed to have great difficulty withholding his laughter. He unashamedly laughed, laughed and laughed. Every time he seemed to almost contain his laughter, he looked at me and immediately began a fresh set uncontrolled of laughter. I continued to stand politely and wait until he finally stopped laughing long enough to inform me that due to his present limited budget, he could not afford to pay me for my services. He did allow me time between gust of laughter to hear me request the same aforementioned words, over and over. I came to volunteer my services to serve as a Chaplin in this hospital. I feel God told me to do so and that s why I am here.
He finally became laughter controlled enough to tell me that he could not accept me in that position and of course as office people usually do as a polite dismissal opened the door for my immediate dismissal as demonstrated by him.
