There are many good choices!
What does God want you to do with your life? Which internship will put you on the right path? Are you prepared enough? Is missions in your future? Should your internship involve something with kids? Street evangelism? Support the work of locals? Blaze a new path?
We’ve all been there. The endless questions and options can easily overwhelm you, especially regarding your future and the path God might be leading you toward. In all of the noise, how can you possibly choose the best option?
We’re here with some encouragement. We definitely believe an internship experience in missions is a worthwhile way to engage with the Great Commission, grow in your faith, and get clarity on how God is calling you to serve the Kingdom. It should be chosen with wisdom, research, and good counsel. But we know that if you go into it with a heart to learn and a determination to be faithful, God is going to use your internship!
It’s that easy.
Here are some valuable things we’ve learned about God, the future, and the impact of a missions internship.
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God is not evasive with His will.
Can you think of a single time in Scripture when someone was earnestly and sincerely seeking God’s direction and He hid from them and waited to see if they’d pick the right path without His help? Of course not. It’s not in God’s nature to have a clear direction He wants us to take, but then refuse to tell us what it is. When God’s will is specific, His direction is specific.
In the Bible, God used men and women who were just following Him faithfully with their everyday lives. There seems to be more emphasis on seeking and obeying Him than on finding that elusive secret path that He is keeping from you as some kind of cosmic test. God is not small. His work in you and through you is not limited to a single set of perfectly executed decisions.
If you’ve prayed earnestly for God’s direction, listened with intentionality and patience, and still have no clear next step, then maybe God is ready to move regardless of what internship you pick. Maybe His entire plan doesn’t rest on your internship.
“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord…” Jeremiah 29:13-14
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The goal is clarity, not commitment.
It’s true that many people who have powerful internships with a specific organization, team, or type of ministry often end up serving in that context in the future. But the opposite experience is also valuable. If you’re asking God to clarify your next steps, sometimes that will look like doors closing.
Maybe you think God might want you to serve with students internationally, and then you have an internship where you realize that you’re absolutely miserable in that context. Was that internship a waste? Of course not! It served to help you make informed and wise decisions about the future. Maybe on that same trip you realized that God has planted in you a deep and lingering love for learning language, sharing the Gospel, or business as missions. Or He showed you that if you’re going to thrive on the field, you need to invest in some intentional counseling. Those are all valuable insights!
Your internship does not define your future. It is not a commitment to a career path or even a one-way door into your next chapter. An internship is a classroom — created so you could learn, grow, gather information, and then move forward in your education.
Don’t think of your internship as a total commitment to one direction for the rest of your life. Ask God to use the experience to help you clarify your next steps.
“You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” – James 4:14-15
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It’s not really about you.
One of the main reasons we overthink our internships is because we’re focused on what impact it will have on us personally. But more often than we know, God is using us in different situations on behalf of the people around us. You might feel like your internship is just another experience, but the conversations you have with your teammates, your hosts, and the people you meet along the way could have profound and lasting impacts for them.
This is the true beauty of being available and faithful to God in every situation, because His plans and His purposes go far beyond you. What an absolute joy to realize that God sometimes uses you purely as a way to advance His kingdom!
Of course, most often, you also directly benefit from the relationships, conversations, and examples of the other people, too! You might finish your internship without greater clarity about God’s plans for you, but with new friends, mentors, or memories that will forever shape how you view the world. Don’t underestimate the value of the relationships you’ll build!
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. – Philippians 1:3-6
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When in doubt, choose hard things.
All too often, we think if we’re in step with God’s plans then our path will be painless and clear. We look at our options, weigh our gifts and experiences, and choose the route that seems most natural.
Listen, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that! God has given you gifts and interests and experiences that work together for His Kingdom.
But sometimes, by choosing the path of least resistance, we might be missing out on some truly magnificent gifts of God. For one thing, there’s nothing like being 100% out of your element and watching God use you anyway. God thrives through your weaknesses. If you only make choices out of your strengths, cool things can happen. But your very best day of strength is nothing compared to a minute of weakness in of God’s power.
Second, if you only make choices inside your comfort zone, you’ll miss out on the new gifts, skills, interests, and qualities God could give you through hard things. Do you know who is most compassionate? Those who have walked through hardship and found comfort in God. Do you know who is brave? Those who have seen God show up when they’ve been scared. Do you know who is wise? Those who have humbly learned from God when they messed up.
We’re not saying you should foolishly choose ways to fail. That doesn’t help anyone. We’re just pointing out that true character, faith, and dependence on God are formed outside of comfort zones.
So if you have a few choices in front of you and no clear leading from God, why not walk toward the option that is going to stretch you the most? Step into faith and see what God might have in store for you!
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” – Romans 5:3-5
Let’s talk internships! We’d love to connect with you today to pray together, consider the options, and move you forward in this process! It’s important. It’s life-changing. But it doesn’t have to have so much pressure. Don’t overthink it!
Reach out to us at [email protected].
