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

Despite a traditional Christian teaching in the past 5 decades or so about God's will for your life, a wonderful plan, and all that, study of the Bible doesn't bear that out. A fantastic book by Garry Friesen, "Decision Making and the Will of God" (https://www.amazon.com/Decision-Making-Will-God-Alternative/dp/1590522052/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504297008&sr=8-1&keywords=Friesen+God%27s+will) deals very effectively and biblically with that misunderstanding. God has a specific plan of salvation that will not be derailed, but he doesn't have a plan for your life, like what socks I should wear today, what college I should go to, etc. (But if He really really does want you to go to a specific college, he will make sure you get there!) He expects us to be wise and make good choices, and He works with us to that end. He doesn't necessarily have a wonderful plan for your life. Jeremiah had a very difficult life, and Paul's wasn't exactly easy. In Hebrews 11, there's a list of the people of faith, but then at the end of the chapter there are a few verses that some people's lives don't (Heb. 11.35-38). God's "wonderful plan" is the plan of salvation. Nothing will stop that train. But as far as an individual plan for an individual life, not necessarily so. Obviously God called Paul to a specific task, but that doesn't mean it's that way for all of us. Instead of agonizing over finding God's will, we should live in the Spirit and make wise and godly decisions.

I'm a little rushed today, so I know I'm answering only briefly, but if you want to talk about it more, I'd be glad to.

I read a book called Decision Making and the Will of God: A Biblical Alternative to the Traditional View. I would highly recommend it. Essentially, it says that God provides us with many choices in various situations and it is our job to choose from among them, using wisdom. This is His will. It's not for us to sit around waiting for this mystical whisper that never comes. It is to learn from His written Word and then learn to apply it to real life situations. Then, there are those situations that just don't matter... "should i get a blue car or a green car?"

There are many cases of God speaking to people in the Bible, but there are no cases of people having to figure out whether it's God speaking to them or not. When God speaks, he makes it clear. That's why I say if you're in doubt, it's probably not God speaking to you. If it were God speaking to you, you'd know it was him because God doesn't try and fail to communicate with people.

You should check out Decision Making and the Will of God by Garry Friessen. https://www.amazon.com/Decision-Making-Will-God-Alternative/dp/1590522052