J.I. Packer, Guard Us, Guide Us: Divine Leading in Life's Decisions

The past few days, in-between coughing, blowing my nose, drinking water, sleeping, limping from minor toe surgery, feeling miserable, missing work, and helping my pregnant wife and toddler son with the sickness they caught from me, I've been reading excerpts from Guard Us, Guide Us: Divine Leading in Life's Decisions, a new book by J.I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom.Now, this could just be the NyQuil talking, but 101 pages into this 250 pager, this is among the best theological and practical treatment I've yet read on God's guidance/Christian decision making.The following is a lengthy quote from page 10 of the book, a quote that I've prayerfully re-read five or six times because of how it clearly articulates the false, fearful way I've often approached God's guidance. My hunch is that many of you can identify with this. Here's the quote (it's worth 3 minutes of your time), with my addition of several paragraph breaks for readability:

"During the past century and a half, the topic of guidance from God has become a focus of just such fear in many Christian hearts. Christian people have always rejoiced in the certainty that God in his omniscient wisdom and grace is working out his plan for our lives, and that he helps us in our decision making and strengthens us to do what obedience to his revealed will requires of us. But in some quarters the exuberant, outward-looking holiness modeled by such men as John Wesley and Wiliam Wilberforce shrank into a legalistic pietism."Pietism, which means living by the belief that nothing in life matters so much as my personal relationship with God, is right and good, but legalism, which means living by the belief that the quality of my relationship with God depends on my turning in some form of correct performance, is neither. In this case two specific things went wrong."First, the notion spread that getting and following direct guidance from God, as something above and beyond making commonsense decisions in Christian terms was a matter of great importance in the Christian life. Second, God's plan for the Christian individual's life came to be thought of like a travel itinerary in which making planned connections is crucial and missing a connection wrecks the plan and spoils the rest of the journey. For now a second-rate plan B must be formed to replace the original ideal, but now impracticable, plan A, and this will certainly involve some measure of loss."In consequence, fearful (fear-full) and perplexed anxiety with regard to decision making became widespread among evangelical people. Believers felt unable to make far-reaching decisions until they had received some special personal indication from God as to what they should do. Fear of making what from God's standpoint would be wrong commitments vocationally, professionally, socially, relationally, and matrimonially induced a kind of inner paralysis that resulted in good and desirable commitments not being made, because people could not bring themselves to make any commitment at all (which was, of course, an instance of decision making in itself, though it was not usually seen that way)."