Here is a little something I have been meditating on lately. You could call it a litmus test for discerning the will of God. I think the will of God is two-fold. You need to feel called to something. That's the first fold. But you also need to feel released from where you are or what you're doing. That is the second fold.

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 read a story about Peter Marshall, former chaplain to the U.S. Senate in the 1940's, before he moved to DC to assume the pastoral position 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 checked back in eleven months. At that time, Peter Marshall felt released from his current position. 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."

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