Decision Making and the Will of God: A Biblical Alternative to the Traditional View

If you struggle with making the right decision or doing God’s will based in God’s principles, this is the book for you! I highly recommend this read. Scripturally based, excellent theology.

So amazingly helpful in finding answers to big questions in life! Well written and easy to read.

I first read this book about thirty years ago. Since then I've had reason to investigate decision-making in a sectarian context and it's served to raise my level of appreciation for the clarity that Gary Friesen brings to the subject for Christians.

This book sets out the biblical principles by which Christians should discern God's will. It blows the myth of the 'single dot' which some Christians suggest we should try to find by means of signs and "fleeces" and demonstrates that the Apostles made decisions on the basis of obedience to God's revealed moral will and their own common sense. They said such things as: "It seemed good to us..." The widow in 1 Corinthians 7:39 can marry whoever she wants to, provided the man is "in the Lord". There isn't just one Mr Right. But Paul adds that he thinks she will be happier if she remains as she is. That is to say, that what will make her happy is also to be taken into account. It is also clear from the Book of Acts that God did intervene and give direction on certain occasions, but this was the exception rather than the rule. This is a very thorough examination of this principle in all areas of life. It is well argued and there are examples from Scripture to corroborate every point. It is both easy to read and refreshing in its wisdom and simplicity.The revised edition adds answers to frequently asked questions. For many, this book will bring liberation.

Friesen's book was recommended to me in a time crises. I was suffering from, what I now know to be, the typical early-twenty-year-old's decision-making inertia. Much of this was caused from a common understanding of God's will--that is, God speaks to and directs his people, outside of the teachings of the Bible, and that it is their responsibility to listen to and interpret the signs or dreams or the communiqués of the heart that God sends. I believed, through the general climate of Christian education I was receiving, that if I couldn't figure out which school God wanted me to go to and which classes to pick, and which bus to take on the way there, and which shirt to wear, etc., than I was living in rebellion to this secret (but somehow discoverable) will for my life.Unfortunately, this debilitating sense of failure was made worse by much unbiblical, but pious sounding, advice from well-intention Christians: "Ask God, and he will make it clear to you," "Do you have peace about it?" "What is God telling you to do?" Instead of going to the Scriptures, I had to wrestle inside my own muddled mind, trying to neither screw up my life for good nor be disobedient.DMatWOG was a huge help to me. It made me look at the Bible and not at my feelings. It relieved me from theological-clichés that I assumed theists must believe about God's will.Basically, Friesen's thrust is that God has spoken very clearly and unambiguously through his Word: We are to obey his moral will, and he has given us Biblical wisdom while we sort out all the other decisions. Yes and amen.In the long run, what may have been the greatest help to me was not Friesen's thesis on how a Christian makes decisions, but how a Christian ought to deal with the Bible. He does this by slowly going through many commonly cited verses that seem to support the secret-will-of-God view of decision-making ("God is not a God of confusion but of peace" "Trust in the Lord with all your heart... and he will make your paths straight," or any verse where God tells a biblical character what to do), and does what a good exegete does; he looks at language, context, nuance, use of the text throughout Scripture, and possible meanings before settling on what the text is actually saying. For a young Christian, having someone walk you through this process is an invaluable exercise, and helpful in all areas of life.