We face decisions every day--some
big, some small. As Christians, we
seek to submit the choices we make to
God's will. Unfortunately, for many
the process of discerning God's will
has become fraught with fear and
confusion, leading to such questions
as: Does God guide? If so, how? How
will I know when he does? What if I
make a mistake?
J. I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom seek
to free us from such fear. Beginning
with an exploration of Psalm 23, they
show that in his covenant role as our
Good Shepherd, God has promised to
both guide and guard us, his sheep. We
need not doubt that he will lovingly
grant the guidance we need as we seek
him. And we can take comfort that just
as a shepherd retrieves and redirects
sheep that go off course, he will do
the same for us.
In this rich study of divine guidance,
Packer and Nystrom show the importance
of cultivating a lifestyle of Bible-
based wisdom and discernment. And they
take seriously the role of the Holy
Spirit in guiding his people, neither
downplaying the supernatural element
of divine guidance nor elevating it
beyond our reach to the level of
the "super-spiritual," or worse, the
superstitious.