Customer Reviews

Guard Us, Guide Us: Divine Leading in Life's Decisions

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Packer and Nystrom present the church with a fresh formulation of divine spiritual direction.

Here is a new book written by two authors who construct beautiful sentences and well-crafted chapters in order to teach Christians how it is that God communicates His will to us.

This book is not short, skimpy, or sparing. It is more than just simple principles, and yet in many ways it arises from a simple (and Scriptural) formulaic understanding of divine guidance. In fact, I often felt I was reading an expanded and prosaic version of John MacArthur's straightforward "Found: God's Will" booklet (with 5 principles I can still remember twenty years later).

The basic thrust of the book is to put "an end to fear"- the fear found in the heart of a believer over what God's will is for their life. The authors combat false understandings, "some tangled tales" that hamper freedom and joy in the life of a believer who doubts whether they really can know God's will. Furthermore, the authors seek to combat the notion that one bad mistake along the journey will inevitably thwart any future attempt to be found in God's will.

They begin and end with Psalm 23 theology, establishing the "guard" and "guide" verbs of love flowing from the good shepherd to his sheep. They also show how the Word of God provides light and understanding, and how we are to obey the divine text as being the very will of God, for that it is what it is.

The vital foundation for hearing and following God's will is to be walking in overall spiritual health and vitality. This means holiness and purity and a heart desire to glorify God and obey Him. Without this commitment, a professing Christian has no reason to expect their sickly spiritual life will have ears and mind and heart to properly hear from God.

Packer and Nystrom present the church with a fresh formulation of divine spiritual direction. I am sure that additional reading and meditation will yield even more spiritual profit from their words. I can see this book being very useful for late high school and college students.

I received this book as a recommendation from Amazon, since I have enjoyed J.I. Packer's books, as well as books by Dallas Willard and Larry Crabb in this genre.

This book is the clearest, most scripturally-based and complete treatment of this topic I have read. Starting with the need to deal with fear, the author(s) (the book was co-written with Carolyn Nystrom) use Psalm 23 as a template for divine guidance and its special treatment of our need to discard fear as a driver for our actions.

The suthors then go through the respective roles of God's Word, God's wisdom (in that regard), the counsel of friends, the problems presented by a situational ethics view for guidance, the role of the Holy Spirit and an excellent summation.

If you have read Packer, you know he likes to "pack the ideas tight", so it isn't a fast read, but it isn't like C.S. Lewis's "Miracles" either. I believe Carolyn Nystrom was instrumental in spacing the ideas out a bit so it was easier to assimilate. There are also some great questions at the end of the book so you can use the book in a group setting.

Strongly recommend this book to anyone who is seeking God's guidance as they make decisions in their lives.

Guide Us, Guard Us is a practical, scripture-based approach to viewing God's guidance. The authors uses Psalm 23 as a foundation for our quest of following God.

I usually find J.I. Packer a bit hard to read as he's usually very intense, but his collaboration with Caroyln Nystrom was a wonderful idea as she helps to get his point across in a very readable manner.

As an added bonus, the questions included make this book easy to use in a group setting.

If you are seeking God's direction in your life, this is a good book to read.

The book is not an easy read. Packer likes to pack his theology and Nystrom, I guess, made his style more readable. The combination of styles works pretty well. The book is the most balanced and is the most thorough exegetical study of determining God's will in one's life that I've read. It starts off with an exposition of Psalm 23. The book uses Old Testament and New Testament examples well. The authors bring in their own life experiences to good effect. The book does drag some in spots, but on the whole pretty clear and straight forward.

The book is too balanced sometimes. They warn of going overboard on both sides of an issue without recommending how to stay on the narrow line of correct doctrine. However, this is a minor issue. The book is definitely worth reading and meditating on.

J. I. Packer, an Anglican priest and professor, and Carolyn Nystrom, a seasoned (Presbyterian) author of Bible studies and Christian analysis, set out to demystify the puzzle of trying to "find God's will for my life." They address a fear they sense among conservatives: that despite one's best efforts, one might fail to find --- one might miss out on --- God's personal best. Packer and Nystrom propose that the fear is a remnant of the 19th-century Second Great Awakening. I wonder if it can be more immediately linked to a phrase buried in a sentence heard and memorized by a graying generation: "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." Did we miss some kind of wonderful?

As implied by the jacket --- a shepherd's staff superimposed and looming over a bucolic scene --- the loose overarching framework of the book is Psalm 23. If the Lord is our shepherd, as both the Old and New Testaments affirm, he is leading us --- guarding us, guiding us --- in a trustworthy manner.

Much of the book discusses living the daily Christian walk, by biblical counsel and command, and discerning what is good and right. But one chapter delves specifically into vocational issues or "decisions that we expect to be life-shaping hinge-points on which we think our future will turn." They continue, "We hope that what we have to say will go some way to relieving the tension and anxiety that the making of such decisions can bring."

This is not a light read. Personal, historical and biblical anecdotes supplement the authors' points, which are clearly introduced and well outlined. But the sentences themselves require one's full attention. For example, early in the book the authors summarize "the shape" (as opposed to the "scope" or the "specifics") of guidance: "The regular shape of guidance is that God teaches us to apply revealed principles of action, both positive and negative; to observe parameters and limits of behavior that the Bible lays down; and thus to follow the path of faithful obedience and true wisdom, in fellowship with the Lord our shepherd who by his Spirit leads us to do so."

The last chapter of the book focuses on the role of the Holy Spirit and discusses the pitfalls of both undervaluing and overvaluing "God's gift of reason." This chapter is worth waiting for and takes the reader beyond a biblical wisdom and reason and godly counsel model.

Speaking of godly counsel, book lovers will be happy to note that Packer and Nystrom espouse not only having Christian role models to imitate; they also claim that "the habit of reading Christian biography, as well as Scripture, is as much to be encouraged as is the habit of associating with the liveliest and ripest Christians that we know."

Some 10 study questions (for each of 11 chapters) supplement the text, making the book a great candidate for serious topical Bible study.

--- Reviewed by Evelyn Bence

Looking for spiritual guidance in matters of love, life and the universe is no easy task. How do we search for God's guidance? How do we uncover what God has planned for us? Are we making decisions based on His will? For many, a relationship with God brings comfort and direction to what can be a challenging life. For others, the lack of a relationship with God stymies their decision-making and may hold them back from living life to the fullest.

J. I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom answer these fears with Guard Us, Guide Us. They provide essential understanding to what "God's guidance" represents to Christians. Those seeking a deeper and more meaningful understanding as to how God does indeed guard and guide us will enjoy this inspiring and somewhat devotional book.

Packer, an evangelical theologian, and Nystrom, a freelance writer, collaborate to reveal traditional misconceptions of God's guidance, ideas that promote fear and discouragement among many Christians.

Packer and Nystrom proceed with a "where you are now" snapshot of spiritual health-without this analysis, it is difficult to get a feel of what spiritual guidance could provide in a Christian's life. They discuss God's teachings and commandments in scripture and apply spiritual wisdom to real-life scenarios. Guard Us, Guide Us is a thought account of how to deepen our knowledge of spiritual reflection and build our efforts at effective decision making for life's small (and not so small) challenges.

Armchair Interviews says: Interesting perspective.