Hhhmmm, can this principle be used for choosing a life partner? Currently, I'm having a hard time because I have something like 3 or 4 possible candidates...

You are so right!  I agree that if God hasn't given you a clear call (ie you are still wondering what His will is) then any decision that honors Him is a good decision.  On the other hand, there are some people (they tend to be the pastor/missionary type) that know for a fact they have a clear call from God to a particular field.  (I, for instance, know I am called to combine teaching and missions.)  For those people, not every decision is a good decision - only those that fall in line with what God has made clear.  But for the most part, as long as you are seeking God and desiring to honor Him, there is no need to be afraid of making "the wrong decision."

@Pickwick12@xanga - Philosophically speaking, I think you're right; because God is sovereign, in the end no choice we make is something God doesn't want.  But my question is how far we are to take our responsibilities in making decisions.  If God has a specific choice in mind that is superior and doesn't reveal it to you, what does that say about God?  That he doesn't reveal the things that he desires?  In that case, God would be someone who punishes us for things we can't be held accountable for.  If we make a wrong decision for lack of will or lack of earnestness in seeking, then it is understandable that we should accept the responsibility of the negative consequences of that choice.  But if God simply chooses to not reveal it to us, then it is his responsibility for our outcomes and he cannot fairly or justly hold us accountable for making a "bad decision".  (I'm not saying we have the right to get mad at God if things don't turn out well based on our decisions... just that if we pursued him through it, we shouldn't feel at fault for the way things turned out.)

Scripture indicates that there are the secret things of God, but it doesn't indicate that his will is something mysterious or unknowable. He clearly tells us the things that make him happy (loving him, hating sin) and the things that make him upset (loving sin, hating him).  As Romans says, he has made his law evident in men's hearts that they would be without excuse.

But if God elects to hide something and keep it hidden, then 1) we overstep our bounds to demand to know it, and 2) we are not responsible for not knowing it.  To say that we are accountable to a law we do not know, a decision we could not have foreseen, or factors beyond our control is a life philosophy that keeps us bound in fear of the unknown and legalism to the things we can truly only speculate about, and insults the sovereignty of God.

o man. hearing God is such a problem for me, but im also afraid to step out and do things in faith. quite the catch-22

still, can't be afraid to try and make mistakes.

I usually pray about any big choices I have to make and sometimes I get a feeling like I should do something more than the other, but the times when I don't get an overwhelming impression I know that as long as I put God as my top priority as He should be always that sometimes it doesn't matter if I should choose one over the other. He will be able to guide me either way.

I don't really agree with you.

Go read John MacArthur's "Found: God's Will"

And listen to Mike Erre's Popcorn Theology (pastor a Rock Harbor)

@ocelot61@xanga - Teaching and missions is something i've actually recently become interested in, most specifically teaching in foreign countries.  However, I've never seen myself as being a missionary because I'm not a big time people person and prefer to do stuff on my own....but I feel this overwhelming desire to go out and just be a teacher in whatever part of this world I can find to teach!  I'm planning on teaching english, and at the same time, I have a pretty good knack for languages in general and would know more of them if I had pushed myself harder in recent years.

Going along with that, I've been wondering for a long time where God is leading me.  And rather than asking Him to tell me, I pray that He simply guides me down the right path and helps me to realize when I've begun to stray.  Being here on the college campus for the first time is such a great feeling because I can feel that I'm starting the journey God wants me too.  It's been hard, but I've come to realize that the more I think about what I do (as in, longer than a few months lol), the less likely I am to do what God wants me to do.  Besides, I've learned that it's better to pray for His will to be done than anything else.

I have always held to the broad sense of going
out and determining to honor God with whatever choices I made. I had
always thought I was on a "choose your own adventure" (do those books
still exist?). There has been a specific passion/vocation in my
life for the last 10 years. It is international work
combined with agricultural development--particularly grazing and livestock
management. It's specific and specialized.

Two
years ago, I worked 3 months as an English teacher in a central Asian
country. I had experienced some things that made me come home without
any desire to return. However, over the course of a year, I could not
shake this country or it's neighbor's off my mind. Why couldn't I dream
about Central or South America, places I most wanted to be and actually loved?

Unable
to get it off my mind, I said out-loud, "I won't go back to [country]
unless I can work with the shepherds in a rangeland restoration
project."

Basically, I gave God an ultimatum so specific and specialized
that it would be impossible. HA! Three months later, I opened an email
that asked me to come work on a project as a consultant doing exactly
that! I knew that if I didn't go, it would be blatant disobedience.
Since then, I have returned and worked there a second time. My attitude
about the region has changed so that I am excited about returning a
third time! This has opened some doors into opportunities I never
thought of and now I am planning to work there long term.

Thank you for posting on this subject, because I have a hard time distinguishing God's voice sometimes.

Excellent post! Best I've read in quite a while. Thank you for your insight!

I recently struggled with a big decision for over a month. And I truly mean struggled.
Every day. But it was different than just being scared of making the
wrong decision. Every time I need to choose something important like
that, I can feel God's prompting, and I do what He wants me to do. But
this time, God was silent. It's not that I couldn't hear His voice, or
didn't feel His nudges, or by any means ignored Him - I was searching
and praying and closer to Him than I'd been in a long time. He made
himself apparent to me through many other things, but about that one
topic, He was silent. It was the hardest thing I've ever gone through,
and it really taught me the meaning of waiting on the Lord. The fact that His timing is not my timing smacked me like a 2x4 to the head.

So
really, I think there are some situations where indecision is... I
hesitate to say "a good thing," but maybe just where God wants you, so
He can teach you something valuable. If I had just gone and made a
decision on my own (either option could be seen as "honoring God"...
almost as much as either option could be seen as "a huge mistake" if it
turned out not to be what He wanted for me) I would have been in quite
a tough place for a long time. Since I waited, though, I have no regret
about what I decided, and I know it's what God wanted me to do.

Actually the Bible says something else.  It says that God's people are to be lead by God, and that we are to seek His will for our lives and listen for his voice and leading. 

But if you find a verse, or verses that suggest otherwise, please let me know.