Gatherers For Christ

Staci didn’t have any strong desire to do any talking about what she had gone through earlier that morning. She felt more like going home and getting into her comfort food of sherbert than having a talk. She wanted to simply take her son home. Unfortunately the course was set, and Kate was not going to let her out of her sight so easily. Especially since her situation had already been on the news.

Staci let out a sigh. “I just want to be left alone,” she said to herself.

She looked up and saw Kate entering into the room with their coffee. She forced a smile and accepted the steaming, hot cup. “Thank you.”

Kate returned to her seat. “You’re welcome.” Then, she became all serious. “Now tell me everything. What happened to you today?”

Staci glanced down and let out a sigh. With a silent resignation, she began to tell her story. “Ishmael Musad was a patient who came into my care with chest pain. He had two sons with him. At least, I saw two men who said they were his sons, but for some reason, they didn’t like me.” She rolled her eyes. “And for some other reason, no one else but me saw the two men, but…but every one else only saw one of them. Go figure! Anyway, these two men, Mr. Musad’s sons, immediately took some kind of disliking to me.”

Kate smiled reassuringly. “Maybe they were just concerned and only seemed not to like you. How could they not like you? Didn’t you take care of their father?”

“That was just it, Kate. They...they wouldn’t let me.”

“What do you mean?”

“They wouldn’t let me near him. They became…they became angry and…and demanded for another doctor, but I was the only one available at the time. No other doctor could come, so when I…I told them that, they became even more upset and refused to let me near their father. I…” She shook her head. “Kate, I tried to help him. He-he began to have a heart attack, and yet he spoke out in their language--”

“What language?”

“I don’t know. It-it was foreign. Not American.” She sighed in frustration. “I just don’t know!”

Kate touched her arm. “Staci, it’s okay. Just go on.”

Staci regained her composure. “I don’t know what he said, but whatever it was, the two men didn’t let me near him. When I turned to go for help, one of the men grabbed me, held me up against the wall, and…” she swallowed at the memory of that morning, “and put a knife to my throat.”

“Oh, Staci, I’m so sorry.”

“He called me a pig.”

“What?”

“He…he said I was a pig. A filthy, wretched, little Jewish pig.” She blinked as her eyes began to water. “Oh, I hate this. If I do this one more time today, I’m going to scream.”

“Hey, it’s okay. You know, it isn’t good for you to keep anything bottled up inside, so just let it out.”

Staci took a deep breath. “Kate…they wouldn’t let me help their father be-because I’m Jewish. I-I never ever came across such hatred in all my life. I was…I was completely stunned. I still am.” She looked up toward the ceiling. “Oh, how I wish I had my sister’s strength. She would have handled it so much better than I did.”

Kate looked at her. “Sounds to me like there was nothing you could have done.”

“My sister would have karate kicked that guy into the middle of next week!” Realizing what she said, she chuckled. Then, with the image of that happening in her mind, she laughed.

Kate did, too. “Feel better?”

Staci paused. “Well…no. My-my nerves are really shaken.”

“I’m so sorry. This world is so filled with hate, but it’s only because we continue to ignore the love of God. We are human, after all, and all of us have a tendency to do just that. Leave Him out of our lives and ignore Him completely. I’m sorry this happened to you.”

“Well, so what if I’m Jewish? I’ve never been picked on before for being Jewish. Why now? A-and how could they know anyway? Because of my name? And, hey! Wait a minute. We don’t all ignore the love of God. I do go to church sometimes…when I can. I love God. Why…how could He allow something like this to happen?”

“You’re not blaming God, are you, Staci?”

Staci frowned. “Well…Kate, I don’t know. If He didn’t do anything to stop it, what am I supposed to think?”

“That there are other people in this world who don’t know Him and will act contrary to His will whether we want them to or not. And I'm sorry to say this, but many of those people don't understand the relationship God has with your people. With the Jewish nation. That's why there is such hatred, because they don't understand it. Even if they did, God is still in control. You have to know that He is! Even if you’re in a very terrible place right now, God is still who He is, and He will still do what He does.” She set her cup down. “Staci, God loves you. This isn’t His fault, but He was there with you, and I believe He was reaching out to you. Maybe you weren’t listening. Maybe you didn’t see Him.”

Staci sighed. “No, I didn’t see Him. And, of course, I didn’t hear Him. I had a knife to my throat and a maniac in my face, calling me names. How can I see Him when my life is threatened like that? And what am I supposed to do now? You’re telling me this was already on the news, so my career may very well be ended if there is any type of investigation.”

“The investigation will reveal the truth, Staci. That you’re a very competent doctor who--”

“Oh, none of that will matter! My reputation will be severely tainted. I-I’m already the talk of the hospital. What happened has already spread, and by the time I get back in there tomorrow morning, who knows what other things will be said of me.”

“I thought you weren’t going in tomorrow.”

Staci sighed. “I will not stay in my apartment and sulk. I'll go back there and do what I was born to do. Kate, this is what I have to do. If I don’t, then I will lose.”

“Let me pray with you, Staci.”

She hesitated. “Oh…alright. Yes, I…I could use all the prayer I can get right now.”

Kate took her hand in hers and began to pray. Staci felt uncomfortable and wished David would wake up. That way, if he did, they could leave and go home, and Staci wouldn’t have to talk any more about her day. But it didn’t happen. Kate prayed, and Staci continued to feel even more uncomfortable.

Staci would understand later that the reason she was feeling uncomfortable was because the Spirit was working on her heart.