I am writing this article from the perspective of a retired Salvation Army officer. Retirement is not a time to be put out to pasture, but an opportunity for spending more time with the Shepherd. It also permits you to reflect on past years. Sometimes I am asked, “If you had life to live over again, would you follow the same path?” Without hesitation I reply, “Absolutely.” The path has not always been smooth—the way of Christ is still the way of the cross—but it has been the most challenging and fulfilling experience I ever could have imagined.

As a teenager, I found myself seeking God's plan for my life. I believed God had a plan for every life (see Jeremiah 29:11), but what was his plan for me? My personal desire was to enter law school or the teaching profession, but I realized the danger of confusing my desires with the will of God. I needed to heed the words of Proverbs 3:5-6. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths” (NKJV).

God's Call
Because I believed in the priesthood of all believers, I knew that generally God calls all his people to various acts of service for him. But I had heard officers speak of their specific call to Salvation Army officership. What I didn't fully realize was that God has many ways of calling his people.

Sometimes God speaks directly, in tones clear and unmistakable—“This is the way; walk in it” (see Isaiah 30:21). But I had not experienced such a call. Someone then suggested that God can speak in terms of human need. General Bramwell Booth wrote, “The great needs of the world [and] its lost condition is a sufficient call for anyone who has the opportunity to respond.”

Because of my understanding of Christian stewardship, I realized that the whole of my life belonged to God. How could I best allow God to work out his plan for my life? In 1950, I was privileged to attend the International Youth Congress in London, England. Sitting in the Royal Albert Hall during the final meeting, I listened as the International Staff Band played Dean Goffin's selection, The Light of the World. Immediately the words associated with the music came to mind. “O Jesus, I have promised to serve thee to the end” (SASB 862). I then found myself with several hundred others kneeling in the aisle, rededicating my life to Christ. But how was this to be worked out?

Several weeks later, during a cadets' campaign at my home corps, an inner conviction, perhaps aided by some of God's people, revealed that my total commitment could best be expressed through officership. It was not a “blinding light” experience, but the certainty that this was destiny, or as Henri Nouwen put it, “an inward imperative.”

Our Response
Equally important as the call must be our response. Charles Lamb tells of a young man named Samuel le Grice. In his life there were three stages: 1. When he was young, people said, “He will do something.” 2. As he grew older, people said, “He could so something if he tried.” 3. In old age, people remarked, “He might have done something if he liked.”

John Greenleaf Whittier wrote: “Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: It might have been!”

What about the future of The Salvation Army?

Andrew Carnegie, the famous Scotsman who built a gigantic financial empire in coal, iron and steel, was once questioned concerning the future of his far-flung industrial enterprises. He replied, “You can take from me my machinery, my money, my materials. But if you will leave me my men, I will build it all again.”

It has been said that God's method is a man or a woman. He, too, says, “Give me the right men and women and I will build it all again.”

Should that person be you?

General Bramwell H. Tillsley is a retired international leader of The Salvation Army.