General Cecil Richardson is a retired chief of chaplains for the United States Air Force. While stationed in D.C, General Richardson attended one of our campuses and spoke to our men’s ministry one weekend.
As a Major General, he understands chain of command. So when the Holy Spirit gives marching orders, he salutes, falls into rank and obeys orders.
That’s what happened one Saturday, when he was awakened at 5:30 am with an inexplicable prompting to get new glasses.
His wife had been telling him for years that he needed new glasses but had ignored her prompting. This new prompting was a strange one at a strange time. And the problem of course is that optical shops aren’t open early on weekends. So the general had a long breakfast at Denny’s and then visited the nearest vision center just as it opened.
When he got to the shop, Cecil felt led to tell the women behind the counter that he was a chaplain. He resisted at first, because he didn’t want her to think he wanted a military discount of some sort, but he felt she needed to know. So he saluted the Holy Spirit and said, “I’m a chaplain.”
That’s when the woman started trembling as tears filled her eyes.
She said, “My husband is in the military and stationed abroad, and I just found out I have cancer. I have no idea what to do, so yesterday a friend and I prayed that God would send me a chaplain. And here you are.”
These are the moments that give you goosebumps. These are the moments when you are reminded that God cares about every detail of your life. These are the moments when you take off your shoes, because you know you are standing on holy ground.
– Mark Batterson, Draw the Circle
