How a Bureaucrat Blesses Others
To her grateful astonishment, a colleague of mine recently experienced the Lord’s ministry to her through an employee in a federal workplace. She gave her permission to share her story here.
_________________________
I am processing through the US citizenship system. When I went for my interview appointment, the interviewer called me back to his office. To my surprise, he said he was excited to see me. As we walked to his office, he said he had something to share with me at the end and that he had been looking forward to seeing me all day. My interview, he said, was going to be fantastic. The interview itself was routine. He questioned me on my civics recall and my personal background during my time in the United States as a legal resident. I answered all the questions correctly. Afterward, he said I passed and would be going onto the next step in citizenship.
At the end of the official business, he asked, “Would be okay if I share with you what God said to me as I prayed over your file?” Of course, I said yes. He went on to say he reviews each file before his daily interviews. He studies them to get a good understanding of each applicant’s background. In addition, he prays over each one.
When he came to my file, he noticed that my US residency started at a place called Happy Church. (Yes, there really is a church named Happy Church, in which my pastor had helped me with my residency.) My interviewer looked at me caringly and said he believed the Lord wanted me to know that I would be happy again. That was the first thing the Lord impressed on him.
He had two Scriptures to share with me.
The first: Psalm 23:3. The Lord will restore your soul. Not only did God want me to be happy again, but He was also going to completely restore my soul.
The second: Psalm 146:9. This says God preserves the fatherless and the widow. I am now both fatherless and a widow.
I've read those verses many times before and found great comfort in them. For the interviewer to give me those Scriptures during my interview was very pertinent, because I was trusting God to be my provider that day and to help me with my recall for my civics questions. He concluded the three things God has for me is to be happy, restored in soul, and protected by Him. I was sobbing and so appreciative. Imagine being ministered to at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services Office!
We are so blessed that no matter where we are or what we're doing, God's presence is always with us. We are never alone.
To conclude my time with him, I asked about my next steps in my citizenship process. Only one thing was left—the swearing-in ceremony. He asked me about scheduling that event. I said I planned to travel during July and would be back sometime in August. He agreed to set the appointment after mid-August. Before I left, he asked if he could pray for me. He prayed the loveliest prayer for restoration and refreshing during my time away. Wow! Who ever knew I’d be ministered to in such a powerful way at my citizenship interview?
This man explained to me how he had been really suffering burnout and had even considered quitting his job. He had no feeling of purpose. He felt all he was doing was shuffling papers from one place to another with no fulfillment. But God had impressed upon him to start praying over the files. As he did so, the Lord started speaking to him about the people he was going to interview. This process has given him a whole new outlook on his job. He's being a light to people that are in search of encouragement or whatever they need.
He is now blessed with his job as God uses him every single day to speak to someone who comes across his path.
