Mistaken Identity

A few weeks back, I walked into a nursing home and a couple stood up to greet me as if they were expecting me.  I shook their hands and as they began to tell me their circumstance, I knew I was not the one they were waiting to see.  So I told them who I was and they apologized for the mistake in identity but then went on to say that they had been thinking it might be time for hospice but were unsure of who to talk to or how and when to go about it.

I took the time to answer their questions and belay some of their fears and misgivings.  I explained the medical, social, emotional and spiritual dimensions of hospice and how we would work to provide a support system for both their loved one and them.  As I started to leave, I said, "Would you like me to pray for you?"  They responded, "Yes, please."  I did and they thanked me for taking the time with them and for the prayer.  I gave them my card and invited them to call me if they had more questions or were ready to take the next step.  Their mistaken identity was not really a mistake.

It happened again yesterday as I walked up to the nurses' desk in another facility.  An elderly man walked up to me and asked, "Are you the doctor?"  I responded,   "I actually am a chaplain.  My doctorate is in ministry, not medicine."  "Oh, I'm sorry," he began.  I interrupted him saying, "It's really OK.  I'm sure the doctor will be along in a bit."

The man shook his head and then began to tell me his circumstance and how he came to be in the nursing home.  We talked at some length about his medical/social/familial/financial circumstances and I tried to assure him he would be OK.  I assured him that the best was yet to come in his life and that God is faithful.  He nodded and pointed upward saying he knew heaven was awaiting him.

As with the couple before, I asked him if he wanted me to pray for him.  He nodded yes and as I did, tears began to stream down his face.  After the amen, he hugged me and thanked me for taking the time for him.  His mistaken identity was not a mistake either.

In both cases, there existed a need that was not going to be met by the individual they were waiting to see.  Oh, their would be needs met but not the one we met with a divine intervention.  Not that I'm divine but that the God of Glory's Spirit used me to speak to them.  My biggest contribution was to slow down in my busy day and attend to the opportunity God set before me.  They needed a moment of grace and I was able to be a channel of God's blessing.

The apostle Paul said, "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone" (Col 4:5-6).  Making the most of opportunities begins with being open to the possibility a mistaken identity may be a divine appointment - that today may be the day and that you may be the one appointed to be a channel of mercy and grace.  Jus' Say'n.