When I was in college, I did an internship in West Africa. I lived with a missionary family in a remote village, with two other interns. We had lots of good discussions about what future missionary life would be like. The family told us to consider living with a local family in the future when we chose a location. Doing so enables a missionary to step away from his or her own culture and learn the new culture. We visited many people’s homes on that trip, and I remember looking around at the mud brick houses with no electricity, no running water, and very few possessions, and wondering if I could actually live with a local family. I decided that I could, but I would need two things – a fan for when the heat became oppressive, and a couch to stretch out on after a long day of work!

Now, many years later, my life does not look how I imagined it would back then. I am not living with a local family in Africa, and I have electricity, running water, and plenty of other “stuff”. Perhaps the one part that is as I imagined is that I have a couch, and I take full advantage of stretching out on it after a day of hard work! I am thankful to have these things, but I admit that sometimes I feel a bit of “missionary guilt” – God calls many people to hard places and to sacrifice, and yet I am living in the US in relative comfort.

I also sometimes think about how my work would be much more effective if I was in Africa. I would have more than four hours a week to meet with my team, and we wouldn’t be meeting via an unstable internet connection. I could learn both the local language and French better, which would improve communication, not to mention that there would be more opportunities for evangelism and discipleship among local people.

Because of those things, I have made it a habit to pray and say to God, “I am willing to go if you open the way”. Last year, I took a Perspectives class and used the opportunity to think strategically about my work and my team. I saw all the positives above, and I began to wonder if God actually was calling us overseas, and if I hadn’t really been paying attention to the answer to that prayer. So with these things in mind, I began pursuing the question of whether or not we should go overseas for the next 3-5 years until the New Testament is completed. I prayed more intentionally and asked many other people to pray as well. I expected God’s answer to be “go”, because that seems like the right answer – it is strategic, it is effective, and, well, it is “normal” for missionaries! However, as we know, God doesn’t always work the way that we expect, or the ways that seem the most effective and strategic.

During this time of seeking the Lord, a friend reminded me of the verse Philippians 1:6, which says, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” This verse is about sanctification. Paul was speaking in this verse to the Philippians. In the verses before he talks about his joy that the Philippians are “partnering” in the Gospel, meaning that they are working to spread the Gospel as he is. As he sees their work, he is confident of their salvation and of their sanctification. It is interesting to me that Paul sees their eagerness to spread the Gospel (in other words, their work) and that is a confirmation to him that God is doing His work, which will continue to the point of completion. Their work does not complete their sanctification, God’s work does. Yet, their work is a sign that God is working in them.

When my friend brought up this verse, my first thought was of God’s work in my life. Like the Philippians, I am passionate to spread the Gospel, and like the Philippians, God is working for my sanctification. It is not my work, however, which brings about my sanctification – it is God’s work in my life. It does not matter if I am doing “hard” work by living overseas, or if I am living in the US. God will bring His work to completion in my life.

My friend brought something else to my attention as well. This verse also applies to the people that we are working with. They are not at the same stage of faith as the Philippian church, so I had not immediately applied the verse to them. However, God is still working in them. He has plans for their salvation and their sanctification, and He will bring that work to completion. Further than that, His plans for my sanctification and His plans for their salvation are intertwined! He knows the circumstances that will bring about His plans in both my life and their lives at the same time. This is an amazing and comforting thought – if my strategic plan does not seem to be working, I can be assured that God’s strategic plan still is!

It is with this thought in mind that I entered into a prayer session to ask God for an answer to the question, “Stay or Go?” I was still surprised to feel that God’s answer was “Stay” (at least for now). It seemed strange that He would say no to something that appeared to be good strategy. However, having read and thought about Philippians 1:6 helped me to understand this answer better. I do not know the extent of God’s plan, but I know that He will complete it. I do not see all the pieces of the puzzle, but I know that He knows how they fit together. He will bring to completion salvation and sanctification for both me and the people that I work with, no matter where I live and work. So, for now we stay, and we wait for the next step of God’s plan in the full knowledge that He will bring it to completion.