Being Called And Being Released

I've been thinking a lot about calling and what's next in my own life. I feel like I'm called to do something in fighting human trafficking - there have been so many signs, so many reminders, that there is no way they are coincidences. Yet I feel trapped because I can't figure out how to make my calling a reality. We moved from Colorado, where there are a ton of opportunities to get involved in organizations that are doing something about human trafficking, to Ohio, where there doesn't seem to be any. So then I start thinking that perhaps I need to be the one to start something. Which is exciting, but where does one start? And is this something I'm supposed to be doing as a career? As a "hobby?" And what does that entail?

Mark Batterson is a pastor who has planted theater churches around the Washington DC area. I love reading his blog, and today didn't disappoint (although the post was from a few days ago). This is what he has to say about being called and being released:

In light of yesterday's post, I thought I'd share 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 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."

I guess I feel like I've been called to something - human trafficking, and that I've been released from something - the church I helped plant in Colorado. However, what is the next step?