Review: “Do the Next Right Thing” by Roger Thompson

There will come a time in your life and mine when hard choices need to be made—when circumstances outside our control create necessity for action.

Unemployment. Betrayal. Conflict. Illness. These challenges afflict us all. And yet, as prevalent as they are, our choices in how to best navigate them are often far from clear. It’s then when we most need to do the next right thing.

Do the Next Right Thing by Roger Thompson

Roger Thompson’s book, Do the Next Right Thing (Tate Publishing, 2016), offers not a roadmap—for each of our journeys is unique—but a guidebook to steer our perplexed hearts. As the cover suggests, Thompson offers “eight strong handholds for every man” facing hard choices. (While written for men, the principles are equally applicable to women).

The concept of doing the next right thing is not novel. One might judge that a book by that title is nothing more than the typical “just do it” self-help pablum. But that would be a mistake. This book prompts us to face the “agonizing complexity of human dilemmas” with a spiritual lens—one that provides resilient hope.

Thompson draws on 40-plus years of pastoring and counseling expertise, guiding our attention to the apostle Peter’s second epistle and exploring eight handholds that, taken together, helps us scale our mountainous challenges and do the next right thing. Faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love are familiar words to those acquainted with that epistle. Yet, they are more than words; they are the ingredients essential to navigating the complexities of life.

Thompson reminds us that the next right thing “is done at walking speed.” When it’s easy to remain frozen in fear, hoping for a perfect solution to emerge, we can take a singular step in faith. These eight handholds strengthen our confidence to discern and do the next right thing.

If you’re a Christian, you’ll want to read this book to help you effectively respond to the challenges you presently face and to prepare for the ones to come. The book’s ten short chapters make excellent morning-time devotional reading. And, the good news is, you don’t need a crisis in your life in order to do the next right thing.

Listen to my discussion with Roger Thompson about his book on the Reinventure Me podcast.

Comment below: What are some of the strategies you rely upon when life throws you a curve ball?

 

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