Donald Miller challenges the commonly accepted notion that God has an individual perfect plan for our lives. It seems a lot like the view set forth by Gary Friesen in his book, Decision Making and the Will of God. Friesen suggests that God has a moral will (what he declares to us as right and good) and a sovereign will (what only his mind knows). Outside of this, we are to live according to his moral will and the principles of wisdom.
Some of his most compelling arguments are in the realm of everyday decisions. For example, he questions why it is that Christians seem to fast, pray, and go through all kinds of steps to discern God's will about marriage, school, etc., but leave the everyday mundane decisions to sheer commonsense (like what clothes I will wear today). If God has something to say about every part of our lives, then why is it we ignore him in the small decisions? Friesen suggests that it is because we already are functioning by wisdom. By no means does he do away with fasting, prayer, counsel, etc., but these things must be employed with wisdom in the framework that God desires us to walk with Him, not just to make sure we are in step with every detail of his plan.
You may not agree with everything he says, but it's definitely worth a read just to challenge the status quo. It's also available as a Kindle book if you're so inclined.
Hi Mitchell,
ReplyDeleteSome folks might want something shorter than a book; you might see http://www.relevantmagazine.com/digital-issue-44?page=55
Takes a while to load/zoom. I don't normally read Relevant but I like FC.
Thanks for the link! The user interface totally stinks, but it's worth enduring through to read it.
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