From the rearview mirror, I saw my then-9-year-old praying again. After mouthing “Amen,” she picked up my phone and dialed her best friend’s number. After the initial greeting, she lit up:
“OK, so I received my letter from the camp and have not opened it yet. Go get yours. As we decided, let’s open them together.”
“Please let me be in the same club, please let me be in the same club,” I heard my baby girl whisper.
She opened the letter and screamed: “Oh my goodness! I made it; I made it! I’m gonna cry!!”
I could hear the squealing on the other side of the line as her friend could not believe the news.
It’s no wonder they were surprised.
Thousands of kids register for this sought-after summer camp every year. After registration, campers are randomly assigned to one of four different clubs. Once placed in a club, children stay in the same house together and do most of the activities within the group. Naturally, our daughter wanted to stay in the same club as her best friend.
We received instructions not to request any particular club for our child, and we knew the likelihood of the girls staying in the same group was small. Therefore, for several weeks, the two girls agreed to pray that God would place them together. And so, he did.
After the conversation ended and my daughter returned my phone, I said:
“Well, it looks like you need to say a prayer of thanks, baby.”
She smiled: “I already have, mom. What are the odds that we would be in the same club? God answered our prayers, no doubt!”
I knew this was an optimal opportunity to teach my child an important lesson on prayer:
“I believe God is showing you that there is no silly or small request that his children can ever make,” I told her. “As long as we obey and love him, he delights in giving us the desires of our hearts. Nothing is too big or too small to ask.”
My daughter’s faith experience reminded me of a passage of Scriptures I read recently: The odd story of the floating ax head. We find the account in the sixth chapter of 2 Kings.
The prophet Elisha had taken a group of Israel’s prophets to the Jordan River, where they started to build a place to meet. During the construction, one of the prophets accidentally plunged an ax into the water. The tool was borrowed and valuable; therefore, the prophet became distressed by the incident.
When Elisha realized his friend’s anguish, he was moved and performed a simple miracle to help him: He cut a stick, threw it in the water, and made the iron float so his friend could retrieve it.
We find the account oddly placed as a standalone story between two great miracles performed by the prophet Elisha: Naaman’s healing and Israel’s miraculous victory over the Arameans. As one reads the story, it may seem strange that God would place such as minor incident between a couple of outstanding accounts.
But I believe it is not without reason. The ax story is strategically positioned between two exceptional miracles as a reminder that the God who does the extraordinary also cares about the tiniest details in his children’s lives.
Indeed, the one who has the power to raise Jesus from the dead also cares about our seemingly insignificant desires or concerns.
This Easter may find you celebrating the magnitude of an empty tomb with grave concerns that plague your heart. But to some, there may be a small desire that remains unfulfilled or an issue that you think is too small to bring before heaven’s throne.
Remember, God does not see our problems or desires that way. He cares for details as small as a young girl’s summer camp club assignment as he does for the serious issues we face and the valleys we must cross.
Like in Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed, as we trust God with our seemingly insignificant prayers, we grow the faith to believe him for the power displayed in the empty tomb.
Patricia Holbrook is a columnist, author, podcaster and international speaker. Website: www.soaringwithHim.com. Her show, God-Sized Stories, is on all Podcast platforms and YouTube. For speaking engagements and comments, email pholbrook@soaringwithhim.com
