"Just Do Something" by Kevin Deyoung

A rising star among young evangelicals is Kevin DeYoung. DeYoung has written a number of books lately, all of which demand our attention. One recent book regards finding God's will call "Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Find's God's Will or How to Makes Decisions Without Dreams, Visions, Fleeces, Open Doors, Random Bible Verses, Casting Lots, Liver Shivers, Writing in the Sky, etc." The author writes with the sort of honest bluntness and biblical clarity that is needed.

To many today, finding God's will is a priority (which is a good thing) and yet a mystery. DeYoung argues that that does not need to be the case. Too many today are waiting for God to tell them what to do, where to go, etc. They rely on, as the subtitle suggests, on things like visions and dreams, fleeces (a reference to Gideon), opening our Bible to random spots, etc. What they don't realize is that doing God's will does happen like that.

DeYoung gives a powerful analogy: his grandfather never worried about if he was in God's will. He grew up and matured, he served his country when duty called, he got a job and earned his keep, he got married, raised children, all while growing in his faith and serving the Lord. Perhaps many of us can tell similar stories about our grandparents. They needed lost sleep over the question of God's will because in their obedience to the gospel and their growing sanctification, they were already doing it.

God's will isn't the mystery that we make it out to be. Throughout the book, the author provides practical help to living God's will without waiting on dreams. Take marriage for example. Perhaps DeYoung's harshest and most needed words regarded marriage. How can you know if you should marry someone? Its quit simple actually. Are you marriable? Are the two of you Christians? What about each parents? Do you have a job? Can you support one another? If yes to all of these (and other questions of course) then yes, get married.

What I appreciated about this section was his criticism of how we increasingly wait to get married. Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr. has raised this issue before and it is needed that we hear it from another leader among young evangelicals. We keep waiting on our careers, our education, our . . . something. The truth is, we need to grow up and get married. God wills us to find a spouse and marry them.

Furthermore, DeYoung debunks the myth of "that one." You know, that special someone in whom you were meant to be with for the rest of your life. This is a dangerous myth that has broken many peoples hearts. There is no special "one." If two Christians are married and have submitted themselves to Christ in complete obedience, there is no reason why they cannot have a fulfilling marriage modeling the gospel. This does not mean that we should not and cannot love our spouse with the same Cinderella-like love as before. But if we step back and think about the damage that has been done as the result of a dangerous view of marriage, perhaps we will rethink it.

I really enjoyed this book. I highly recommend everyone read it as it is a subject that needs to be taken seriously. Too many today sit around wanting to do God will and not doing it because they're waiting for God to reveal it. If only we would realize that He has revealed Himself, we just have to get up and do something.

I read this book via downloading a digital audio download from christianaudio.com. The reader did an excellent job. I have listened to hundreds of audio books and bibles, and the reader on this particular book had an excellent voice and the audio was well produced.

So instead of sitting there and wondering what God's will is. Get up and "just do something."

For more:

Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck - Why We're Not Emergent (an excellent book!)

John MacArthur - Found: God's Will