That Little Voice...

The other day, as I was talking with a group of people on campus, we were talking about our lives after seminary, what we envisioned, what we didn't envision, etc. We were talking about the "maps" we carry with us on our journey, and I made some crack about how the map I'm carrying about my future life has the whole southeast U.S. all exed out.

One of the professors responded by somewhat jokingly saying, "Oh, just wait, God has a great church is Birmingham just waiting for you to pastor it." (That's Alabama, for anyone who is wondering.) But she wasn't entirely joking.

And it got me thinking about this little voice we Christians sometimes carry inside of us. The voice that says: "If it feels good don't do it" and "Whatever you want to do least, that is what God's plan is for your life." Because this voice exists in me too--but it seems needlessly masochistic, and doesn't seem to be theologically correct. But on the other hand, if you're doing something you wouldn't choose to do yourself, it's potentially more likely that you're not just being your own god and following yourself.

Does anybody else have that voice? That voice that says if something is too fun then it must not be what God wants you to be doing, or that if you really don't want to do something, that must be God's calling? I don't agree with it, but I think it holds more sway in our lives (individually and corporately) than we often realize.