Psalm 126: Learning to Depend on God Far From Home

Introduction

"We live on miracles every day, but we have lost the habit of sharing them." With that conviction, a Brazilian sister from BE Church Verona steps up to speak during the service. She tells what God has done in her life and in her family's life since they arrived in Italy in 2023.

She warns right away that what she shares is only a small part of the story. "If I could talk for a whole week, it would still not be enough to tell it all." She cried while writing this testimony, she is so grateful.

Behind the paperwork, the waiting and the doubts, one thread runs through it all: in three years, this family has learned what it really means to depend on God. And one text has been with them since the first day: Psalm 126.

Outline of the message

1. A childhood dream that became a journey with Jesus

Ever since she was little, she dreamed of living abroad, outside Brazil. She kept telling her mother that she would go and live in London. "I still don't know London," she says with a laugh.
When the family considered Italy, it was first of all a chance for her to live out that dream. "But we had no idea what God was going to do along the way."
The couple and their two children left everything behind: their jobs, their home, their family. They sold their house so they could leave.
The journey is not over: "As long as we are alive, we will always have the chance to be transformed."
She draws a first lesson from it: "What matters most is not arriving where we want to go, but the path we walk with Jesus."

2. When doors close

The family came to apply for Italian citizenship, for her and for the children. The process begins a few months after they arrive, at the town hall.
Six months later, the town hall asks for corrections to the documents. In Brazil, these corrections now go through a court procedure, which the family starts right away. The immigration office answers them: "You have to wait."
More than a year later, the corrected documents finally arrive. But in the meantime, in March 2025, the law on citizenship by descent changed. The town hall rejects the documents: "We cannot continue with your citizenship application, because the law has changed."
She asks for an official answer in writing, which arrives almost two months later. The family looks for another way to stay in Italy legally and finds none.
The family's employers recommend a lawyer and make themselves available from start to finish. "I am convinced that God put these people in our lives."

3. A permit that had been waiting for months

While preparing the new procedure, the lawyer calls the immigration office to explain the situation. The answer surprises everyone: a residence permit has been ready for pickup for several months.
At an earlier appointment, she had been asked for a receipt from the town hall that she could no longer obtain. She had told herself: "I'll leave it like that and see what God does." The family thought the permit was lost.
She picks it up only four months before it expires. A citizenship case is then opened before the Italian courts. It is still pending.
Rather than sit and do nothing, she applies to renew the permit. The appointment at the immigration office comes only months later. She arrives early in the morning and is not seen until early afternoon.
She dares to ask a question: can this permit be converted into a work permit? After consulting his colleagues, the officer makes the conversion. The permit is ready in just a few weeks. "To me, what he did is a miracle."
This change matters: a waiting permit allows almost nothing but waiting, whereas a work permit changes everything. She can now apply for a permit for her husband, who had none until then.

4. Doubts, exhaustion and an answered prayer

When they left Brazil, she was sure of herself: God had opened the doors. "But over time, my heart filled with questions." She often asked God whether their choice was really his will.
Their daughter needed time to adjust to the Italian school, and not only because of the language.
Her husband went to work on a borrowed bicycle, twenty kilometers in the rain, in the cold and in the heat, always tired. "He has been truly courageous. He is our compass and our safe harbor."
For two and a half years, the four of them lived in a one-room apartment. When they were finally able to move to a neighboring town, the town hall took four months to register their residence.
Worn out, she prays: "Lord, do you really want us to stay here? If you tell me to leave, I will leave, but I don't want to stay in this situation." A week later, the town hall calls her to register their residence.
She has never regretted coming, even when her son kept telling her he had not asked to come. Before leaving, they had asked God to guide them. "If we are here, it is because God gave us permission to be here."

5. What it means to depend on God

"Depending on God means ceasing to be proud and to think that we can do everything ourselves."
In Brazil, life was comfortable: the children went to a private Christian school, the family had their house, and everyone had a car. "It was only when I got here that I realized I had never really lived depending on God."
They learned to let God give the answer. When something is missing, God sends a brother who quietly slips money into a bag.
She had not planned to work in Italy. It was her husband's boss who invited her: first in packaging, in production, then two months later in the offices, where she has now worked for a year and eight months. "I know it is a miracle."

6. A prayer over coffee

Depending on God also means asking him: "What can I do here for you?"
The family invited the boss to their home for a real Brazilian coffee, with pão de queijo and a savory pie. She asked: "May we pray before we eat?" The guests found it a little strange, but agreed, and her son prayed.
The next day, the curious boss asks her husband: "Do you all pray together every day?" She has the absolute certainty that a seed was planted.
"None of us is here by chance, whether Italian or not. We are all here because this country needs Jesus."
She makes one thing clear: she shares all this not because she is a woman of unshakable faith who has never doubted. She simply wants to honor the name of Jesus in everything she lives through. "If you are going through a situation with no solution, Jesus is the solution."

7. Psalm 126: Yahweh has done great things for us

On the day they left, at the airport in Brazil, the family photographed their passports while playing a song drawn from Psalm 126. That psalm became their anchor in Italy.
"When Yahweh brought back those who returned to Zion, we were like those who dream. [...] Yahweh has done great things for us, and we are glad. [...] Those who sow in tears will reap in joy."
She asks everyone the question: how many things has the Lord already done for you? How many seeds watered with tears, how many deliverances, open doors, and people placed on your path?
"We cannot let circumstances condition us, nor measure God's love for us by our frustrations." God is not here to fulfill our desires, but to transform our hearts.
"He has done great things in my life, things I was not expecting. I was expecting something else."
To close the service, a church leader picks up the psalm: some have seen God at work in their paperwork or in buying a home, others were declared incurable or came close to divorce, "but today they are here." "God has done great things, God is doing great things, and God will keep on doing great things."

Key takeaways

What matters most is not arriving where you want to go, but the path you walk with Jesus.
Depending on God means giving up the pride of doing everything alone and letting him give the answer.
Doubts do not disqualify faith: you can bring them to God in prayer and see him answer.
No one is here by chance: a simple coffee and a prayer before the meal can plant the gospel.
Do not measure God's love by your frustrations: remember the great things he has already done.

Personal application

What everyday miracles have you experienced recently, and who could you tell about them this week?
In what area are you still trying to control everything yourself, instead of depending on God?
What closed door or what wait are you carrying right now? Do you dare to place it in God's hands with an honest prayer?
Where God has placed you (work, neighborhood, school), what can you do for him, even through a gesture as simple as an invitation?
As you reread Psalm 126, what "great things" has the Lord already done for you?

Verses quoted

Psalm 126

Frequently asked questions

What does it mean to depend on God, according to this testimony?

It means ceasing to be proud and to think we can do everything ourselves, then letting God act and give the answer. In Brazil, this family had a comfortable life and had never really depended on God. In Italy, they saw God provide through a brother, a job or a residence permit.

Why is Psalm 126 at the heart of this message?

On the day they left, at the airport, the family photographed their passports along with a song drawn from Psalm 126. The verse "Yahweh has done great things for us, and we are glad" became an anchor, and an invitation to remember everything God has already done.

How can you keep your faith when a situation seems to have no way out?

The testimony invites us not to let circumstances condition us and not to measure God's love by our frustrations. If you seek God and have entrusted your life to him, the answer will come, not because you deserve it, but because he is worthy of all the glory. Jesus is the solution.