When my family and I were denied a visa extension in the land we had called home for over eight years, my world was rocked. My husband and I protested and appealed the decision, hoping we would be given permission to stay. 

Our efforts were in vain.

With no other recourse, I turned to the Lord. 

“But God, you called me here. You gave me this place to call my home.”

I had no idea how – nor any desire – to make another place my home. I had poured tears, prayers, and the best years of my life there. Furthermore, through great struggle, I had grown deeply attached to the people I loved and to the life I was living.

In this season of bewilderment, I grew bitter against those who had denied us our visa – wrongfully believing my enemies were flesh and blood (Eph. 6:12) and that it was my responsibility to defend the plans of the Lord and to create an open door that could not be shut (Is 22:22). I stopped loving these beings created by my Father and I stopped abiding in Him. 

Of course as overseas workers we seek a visa for another country. We have dreams and plans for our particular host country and desire to see more people enter the Kingdom of God. But how easy is it to let the acquisition of a visa become an idol – or our residence in a new land our end goal? We put too much effort into securing a visa – as if it is secured by might or by power and not by the will of the Holy Spirit. If God has called us and wants us in a particular country, will he not open the doors? Must we worry and spin or could we take a posture of trust and surrender? 

Our home is not dependent upon a visa or the decisions of those in a government office. It cannot be destroyed nor can it be taken from us. Our home is secure in the love of the Lord. Our mission then is not to make our home in a particular place, but to rest in Him.

Let us be people who make our home in the Lord, where moth or rust cannot destroy (Mt. 6:19-24). Let us make our home in the One who dwells among men (Rev. 21:3), trusting that same One to open doors which cannot be shut (Is. 22:22). He is our home – we abide in Him as He abides in us.