Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will

It's all in the title. Contains scripture proofs, a clear path forward for teenagers, young adults, and adults who are doing their best to follow God's will. A great gifts for high school graduates, I've given out a few of these as presents and the theology and direction they give about human free will in view of God's ultimate sovereignty, and our duty and obedience towards God, is all in here. I also recommend looking and reading the first 3 Westminster Shorter Catechism questions for insight into answers into life's big questions: why are we alive, what do we do about it, and where's the instructions?

One of the most inspirational books I've read that stays fully grounded in scripture. It takes a uniquely talented pastor-theologian to write with originality in a way that stays true to the timeless wisdom of God's word. I am not as young as I imagine Dr. DeYoung's target audience is intended to be (31M), and yet I still face massive life choices on a regular basis. This was a real encouragement in the face of those choices. Kevin did a good thing with this one!

Wonderful quick read! Highly recommend to every young adult and their parent.

This short, yet tremendously helpful and practical book is about God’s will. It may also be the sanctified kick-in-the-pants some folks need to jolt them out of a fruitless cycle of indecision and hesitancy. How so? Because the reader will learn a biblical approach to discerning God’s will for their life. With said approach what is evident is that there is a bias toward action; as a result (as the title suggests), the reader is compelled to “take some responsibility, make a decision, and just do something.” This advice is given cognizant that many in Christian circles believe that wavering between opinions and wandering through life are marks of spiritual sensitivity. Sadly, meandering cowardice has been spiritualized so that it feels like piety instead of passivity. This is not a biblical approach to Christ-like living as DeYoung makes clear that nowhere in the Bible will you find a command that Christians figure out God’s secret will before doing something. So, on the one hand, we are free to ask God for wisdom. On the other hand, the Lord never burdens us with the task of divining His will of direction ahead of time. This advice is especially helpful for our decisions that have lasting consequences (e.g. work and marriage) as well as all the multitude of non-moral decisions we make in everyday life. Yes, God has a plan for all of His children, but He is not going to tell us that plan before it unfolds. What God does do is give us brains, and a Book full of guidance so that we can take risks for Him. Living God’s will is living a life saturated in wisdom which compels us not to ask to know the future but instead how we are to live right now according to His Word. So, “just do something” means living for God with the confidence that you are walking in the will of God.

Such a great book! Super helpful as my husband and I decide our next steps in life! We now often will just say “we need to just do something” !!

Good advice, You will never go wrong when you follow the Golden Rule. Do Unto others as you would want them to do unto you. Follow God.

I enjoyed this book so much. If demystified the Will of God. I feel as though( and maybe this has to do with the modern church) we are told to find God’s will, and God has a great will/plan for our lives.. and it almost always has to do with a job/what type of career God has for us. So, when I’m sitting waiting for this one career to happen (or I think should happen) and it’s not happening or it honestly just doesn’t make sense with family, discouragement can settle in. Now I have the opportunity to go back to school for something else that I’m interested in, that would be a great career and help to my family… but I had the gut wrenching feeling .. you know? Asking “ is this God’s will for me to go back to school? What if that other thing is just right around the corner and I’m settling and the rest of my life will be lived in regret?!” These were my constant thoughts. I’ve wasted so much time waiting for ‘God’s will’ I.e. my supposed personal calling/ vocation He had for my life. Years, wasted and agonizing over. Now I’m taking steps forward towards something that I’ll have to work hard for, and take steps forward. No more sitting on my hands. Time will pass regardless, and I’m doing a disservice to God, myself, husband and kids by waiting and doing nothing. It’s time to move forward, get my hands dirty and trust God will work everything out in the end. No more sitting around.

There’s a book called Decision Making and the Will of God by Gary Friesen that covers much the same topic as DeYoung’s book but couldn’t be more different. Friesen’s book is more academic in a sense-although not exactly an academic book by most standards. DeYoung, however, has taken a perplexing topic and made it very approachable and down-to-earth. Perhaps it’s so approachable because, if you’re at all familiar with the common view of trying to discern God’s secret will for your life, this approach DeYoung discusses is far more common sense, to say nothing of being more biblical. It is simple in all the right ways. I would gladly hand this book to anyone in my orbit I sense might need it. If you’re looking for a deep-dive on this topic with lots of cites, look elsewhere. (Maybe the Friesen book I mentioned, if it’s still in print.) But if you need something genuinely useful in sorting out how to discern God’s will, grab this book.

Just buy it. It's short but very helpful. Readable and approachable. I've put it in the hands of all Christian youth that I know. His premise is simple: the desire to know God's will might sometimes come from an unhealthy desire to know the future but God gave us "sanctified common sense" (his words) to make decisions. Buy it if you're still confused by mainstream Christianity's craze around knowing God's will.

The truth does set us free. This book by Ps. Kevin has been a blessing. It’s a must read for all Christians desiring to know God’s will for their lives.

Kevin DeYoung erörtert sehr präzise das Problem der heutigen Generation und hilft uns den Fokus auf den Willen Gottes für unser Leben zu setzen. Was ist Gott am wichtigsten für mein Leben? Welche Person soll ich heiraten? Und wie sieht es mit der Berufswahl aus? Ein Buch das biblische Antworten liefert und dabei ganz nüchtern ist.

I’ve recommended and given this book on God’s guidance to so many people; it is clear, biblical and wonderfully short. Kevin de Young has done a brilliant and brilliantly concise job demystifying and applying the enormous truth of God’s sovereignty for ordinary Christians. If you are a Christian struggling with understanding how God’s sovereignty intersects with your agency or trying to make a big decision, this book will help you think and act in a godly way in the context of God’s character and guidance. It’s wonderfully biblical, practical and non-mystical. It’s even quite funny in parts and as the author puts it - it is wonderfully liberating when it comes to the fearfulness so many of us feel especially around big decisions. If you are exploring Christianity, this is also a great book to read in terms of learning about the character of God and how living in relationship with him through Jesus wonderfully impacts and can liberate the way in which you make decisions in your everyday life.

A small book, but an excellent read. Good for high school students trying to decide what to do with their lives after high schoo, but also a good read at any stage of life. Helps us to remember God has a plan for us, but we still have to make decisions and take action in faith.