Are you trying to find God’s will for your life? Tested a door lately? Laid out a fleece? Maybe you’ve been waiting for a word from God or a dream or a vision.
Perhaps you feel a little guilty or presumptuous when you make a decision and don’t stop to pray about whether your choice is God’s will.
If this is you Kevin DeYoung has a some advice: Search the Scriptures; get wise counsel; pray; and then make a decision. Then repeat. And repeat. And repeat.
This is described in the sub-title of his book Just Do Something as a ‘liberating approach to finding God’s will.’
DeYoung writes from a pastoral concern that he encounters in his ministry to University Reformed Church and also sees reflected in Christian young people more generally.
The book is brief. (122 18×13cm pages) Yet in these pages a case is made that modern western life encourages young people, in particular, to delay major decisions in their lives. This delay is results in many negative outcomes in the development of their spiritual lives, relationships and personal maturity. In addition, young Christians can be hindered by an unhelpful understanding of following God’s will that can increase the tendency toward indecision and delay.
Though young people are the book’s intended audience, the general principles that DeYoung outlines are instructive for Christians of all ages.
In ten well thought out chapters the ideas of God’s revealed will (the Bible) and His secret will (what is going to happen, otherwise known as providence) are identified and differentiated. A process which teaches that the God of the Bible wants us to learn His Word, seek wisdom from Him, trust His goodness and make decisions is contrasted with a worry that can result in paralysis and the insinuation that God can only be trusted when He categorically tells us in advance what we should do. The deficiencies of various other means of discerning God’s will are gently yet firmly revealed. Where appropriate, any proper place they may have in the biblical framework being proposed are identified. The question about whether God still speaks directly to people outside of the Bible today is addressed.
The book is engagingly written with a gentle sense of humour and relevant references to biblical texts and other books. Chapter 9 on ‘Work, Wedlock, and God’s Will’ may draw a couple of short, sharp intakes of breath at the straightforward application of the principles developed through the book, but DeYoung’s pastoral concern is evident throughout.
Just Do Something is recommended to all, but particularly would make a thoughtful gift to younger Christians.
A quote: “Too many of us want God to be a world-class scholar who will write our papers and live our lives for us, when God wants us to sit at His feet and read His Word so that we can live a life in the image of His Son. God doesn’t tell us the future for this simple, yet profound reason: We become what we behold. God wants us to behold Him in His glory so that we can be transformed into His likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18) If God figured everything out for us, we wouldn’t need to focus on Him and learn to delight in His glory. God says, ‘I’m not giving you a crystal ball. I’m giving you My Word. Meditate on it; see Me in it; and become like Me.’”
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Just Do Something - A Book Review
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