Book Reviews

A Compact Guide to Discovering God’s Will

By Gordon S. Jackson
(Colorado Springs: Navpress, 2001, 200 pp. $9.00)

Reviewed by Angela R. Treadway
December 2001
book
This book is mistitled. It is a “how to” book about the process of making “godly” decisions, which is not necessarily the same thing as “discovering God’s will.”

The author states, “You earnestly seek God’s will for your life, not his seal of approval for what you plan to do anyway.” If the reader cannot accept that Scripture is God’s authoritative Word for our lives as a basic starting point, there may be no need to delve further into this book. “Ninety-nine percent of the time we already know God’s will, and the problem is just living it out …,” he writes.

Jackson has labeled the core elements of his decision-making method “The Big Five.” They (in order of importance) are:
  • Scriptural guidelines.
  • Prayer.
  • The advice of other Christians.
  • The circumstances we face.
  • A sense of inner peace about our decision.
These are just the starting points for godly decision-making. Jackson touches on 62 principles (such as listening, ambition, calling, testing, waiting, choices, humility, mixed motives, obedience), and frequently uses open-ended questions as a means of instigating the reader’s thought in this helpful volume.
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