by Christine Berglund

Pray About Everything

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking this SoundCloud link.

“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”
1 John 5:14-15 English Standard Version

“Due to the high volume of calls we are experiencing, we are not able to accept your call at this time.” With only 10 days left before our mission trip to Honduras, this was not the answer I expected nor wanted to hear from the passport office regarding my son’s passport that had not yet arrived and was listed online as “in process.” When this recorded answer or, worse, a busy signal continued for the rest of the day and the next day, I began to panic. Was all of our planning and fundraising going to be for nothing? How heartbroken was my son going to be?

I quickly dashed off an email to our church’s prayer chain asking them to pray for a positive resolution to the situation, and as people asked the standard, “How are you?” throughout the day, I gave my honest answer, “I’m freaking out.” Many responded that they would pray for me and my son and some even went so far as to say they were going to pray for a miracle. A miracle? Do miracles really happen in the world today, and was our situation worth a miracle? Yes and yes.

After two days of unsuccessful calling, I had decided I was going to go to my congress person for help based on recommendations and experience from others. As I was getting ready for the day that third morning, I was rehearsing what I should say to the congress person and mentally checking off that I had all of my documents; I looked down at my watch and realized the passport phone line  was open for the day. I sighed and thought to myself that I would try “the stupid number” one more time. I could not believe my ears, but a miracle happened. I got through to a real live person on the FIRST TRY! The person said my only option would be if he could get me an appointment at a passport center, but that there was no guarantee. A moment later he came back on the phone and somewhat apologetically said the only appointment he saw close to me was about an hour’s drive away at 9:30 that same morning. I said yes immediately.

It wasn’t until after the appointment that I realized all the miracles that had occurred. At the passport office, we encountered people who had flown in from across the country or had driven twelve hours to get to the closest available appointment. We heard tales of people who had called over 200 times and another who called for two weeks straight before getting through. We met a man who had so far still only received a busy signal when calling the number. Another had contacted her congress person to no avail.

It turned out that my son’s paperwork was currently in the same office as our appointment, and we could return in two days to pick up his completed passport in plenty of time for our mission trip. I learned after the fact that there are only 25 of these passport centers across the whole country, and I just happen to live an hour away from one of them. After getting the passport, I tried that phone number several more times just to revel in the miracle I had received, and I only got a busy signal for an answer. Unlike earlier in the week, my heart soared at the sound.

Our Monday despair turned to a mixture of joy, gratitude, and humility on Friday as we told people that our and their prayers had been answered. We were reminded again to trust God and to believe that he cares for us and also to wait in joyful anticipation of what He had in store for my son in Honduras. Did God care about my son’s passport and our mission? Does God care about your needs and desires? Yes! God’s word encourages us to replace fear with prayer about everything.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Phil 4:6 English Standard Version

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