called to and released from
Had a few conversations with a few NCCers this week about discerning the will of God and I thought I'd share one of my paradigms.
I think there are two linchpins: you have to be called to and released from. What I mean by that is this. You need to feel called to whatever it is that you want to do. And because that often requires giving something else up, I think you need to feel released from whatever it is that you're doing.
The challenge is this: very rarely do those two things coincide. So most of live in the tension between those two things. We experience lots of angst when we feel released from what we're doing but we don't know what we're called to do next. And we feel a different type of angst when we feel called to something but we don't feel released from whatever we're doing right now.
I think I got that paradigm from Peter Marshall, the former Senate Chaplain in the late 1940's. When the elders at the historic New York Avenue Presbyterian asked him to be their pastor he felt called, but he didn't feel released from the church he was at so Peter Marshall said no to the original offer. It was about a year later that the opportunity circled back and he said yes because he felt released.
You've got to feel called to and released from.
I think there are two linchpins: you have to be called to and released from. What I mean by that is this. You need to feel called to whatever it is that you want to do. And because that often requires giving something else up, I think you need to feel released from whatever it is that you're doing.
The challenge is this: very rarely do those two things coincide. So most of live in the tension between those two things. We experience lots of angst when we feel released from what we're doing but we don't know what we're called to do next. And we feel a different type of angst when we feel called to something but we don't feel released from whatever we're doing right now.
I think I got that paradigm from Peter Marshall, the former Senate Chaplain in the late 1940's. When the elders at the historic New York Avenue Presbyterian asked him to be their pastor he felt called, but he didn't feel released from the church he was at so Peter Marshall said no to the original offer. It was about a year later that the opportunity circled back and he said yes because he felt released.
You've got to feel called to and released from.
4 Comments:
You shared that with me when I was considering whether I should stay in the Senate or come on board at NCC. It was extremely helpful in the decision-making process.
Yes, I agree with Heather! I'm feeling released from, but not sure what I'm being called too; although, I see one or two opportunities, I don't know if I'm being called to either of them, yet.
I'm in the same boat as Pat -- I definitely feel released (being laid off kind of does that to you), but I'm not yet sure where I'm called to. Kind of a bad position to be in when you're unemployed. :o)
However, I heard something important from a talk by Gary Barkalow of Ransomed Heart. He remarked that your calling doesn't always come with a paycheck attached. That's freed me to consider that my job and my calling may not coincide. Widens the job search a bit. :o)
Great post. I have experienced this in my life a number of times.
It is like you know you have to catch a plane so you go to the airport, but you are not sure which plane and the location. Then when God gives you the release, He says which plane to get on and where you are going.
Love your posts :-)
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