Here's another clip from Mark Batterson. I did a double-take when I saw it, it felt like it was written just for me. This is totally me - I definitely feel a calling on my life, but I still feel responsibility where I am at currently taking care of these 'hood kids who come to church w/ me, and do not feel the freedom nor the go-ahead to venture out from here yet.
RELEASED FROM AND CALLED TO, a clip from Mark Batterson
...one of my litmus tests when it comes to discerning the will of God. I think the will of God is like a double-lock. You need to feel called to something. That's the first lock. But you also need to feel released from where you are or what you're doing. That is the second lock.
Here's where it gets complicated. Feeling called to and released from don't always happen simultaneously. In fact, they rarely do! If you feel called to something, but don't feel released from where you are, then you need to stay put. And God will honor your faithfulness! Where it gets even tougher, emotionally and spiritually, is when you feel released from something, but you don't know what God wants you to do next. It's like spiritual no-man's land. And that is when you need the courage to take a step of faith.
I remember reading a story about Peter Marshall, former chaplain to the U.S. Senate in the 1940's, before he moved to DC to assume the pastorate of New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. He was approached by their search committee and asked to serve as their pastor. It was the opportunity of a lifetime. And he felt called. But he didn't feel released from where he was. So he said "no."
This is an excerpt from the letter he sent to the chairman of the search committee.
While realizing that no man's work is ever finished, I am persuaded that there yet remains much work which I am to do at Westminster [the church he pastored in Atlanta]. I could not conscientiously say that I have done all that I could have done here.
I feel furthermore, that I am not yet ready for the responsibilities and the dignities which would be mine as minister of the New York Avenue Church. I am too young, too immature, too lacking in scholarship, experience, wisdom, and ability for such a high position.
God has not yet indicated that I am to leave here. I am aware, and keenly conscious of the call to Washington, but not, as yet, of any call away from Atlanta.
For the record, the search committee couldn't find a better candidate so they doubled-back eleven months later. At that time, Peter Marshall felt released from his current pastorate. He not only served at New York Avenue, but it opened the door to become chaplain to the U.S. Senate.
Peter Marshall once said, "a call of God is a two-sided call--there is a call 'to' a work, and there is a call 'from' the present work."
_____________________________________________
If I were to use Marshall's words...
"God has not yet indicated that I am to leave here. I am aware, and keenly conscious of the call up north, but not, as yet, of any call away from Springfield."
But when the second lock is released, I shall hold onto Him dearly, as He leads me across a threshold never yet crossed for me...the unknown. There are lost children and families in that unknown...and that is all I need to know.
Wherever you may be on the spectrum, called but not released, or called and released, may He be glorified in and through our lives as we seek His will and Kingdom! God can use us no matter where we are. All He needs is a willing heart.
RELEASED FROM AND CALLED TO, a clip from Mark Batterson
...one of my litmus tests when it comes to discerning the will of God. I think the will of God is like a double-lock. You need to feel called to something. That's the first lock. But you also need to feel released from where you are or what you're doing. That is the second lock.
Here's where it gets complicated. Feeling called to and released from don't always happen simultaneously. In fact, they rarely do! If you feel called to something, but don't feel released from where you are, then you need to stay put. And God will honor your faithfulness! Where it gets even tougher, emotionally and spiritually, is when you feel released from something, but you don't know what God wants you to do next. It's like spiritual no-man's land. And that is when you need the courage to take a step of faith.
I remember reading a story about Peter Marshall, former chaplain to the U.S. Senate in the 1940's, before he moved to DC to assume the pastorate of New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. He was approached by their search committee and asked to serve as their pastor. It was the opportunity of a lifetime. And he felt called. But he didn't feel released from where he was. So he said "no."
This is an excerpt from the letter he sent to the chairman of the search committee.
While realizing that no man's work is ever finished, I am persuaded that there yet remains much work which I am to do at Westminster [the church he pastored in Atlanta]. I could not conscientiously say that I have done all that I could have done here.
I feel furthermore, that I am not yet ready for the responsibilities and the dignities which would be mine as minister of the New York Avenue Church. I am too young, too immature, too lacking in scholarship, experience, wisdom, and ability for such a high position.
God has not yet indicated that I am to leave here. I am aware, and keenly conscious of the call to Washington, but not, as yet, of any call away from Atlanta.
For the record, the search committee couldn't find a better candidate so they doubled-back eleven months later. At that time, Peter Marshall felt released from his current pastorate. He not only served at New York Avenue, but it opened the door to become chaplain to the U.S. Senate.
Peter Marshall once said, "a call of God is a two-sided call--there is a call 'to' a work, and there is a call 'from' the present work."
_____________________________________________
If I were to use Marshall's words...
"God has not yet indicated that I am to leave here. I am aware, and keenly conscious of the call up north, but not, as yet, of any call away from Springfield."
But when the second lock is released, I shall hold onto Him dearly, as He leads me across a threshold never yet crossed for me...the unknown. There are lost children and families in that unknown...and that is all I need to know.
Wherever you may be on the spectrum, called but not released, or called and released, may He be glorified in and through our lives as we seek His will and Kingdom! God can use us no matter where we are. All He needs is a willing heart.
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