God has revealed his will for us in the Bible. As DeYoung states in the fifth chapter of his book, “Simply put, God’s will is your growth in Christlikeness.” He’s not nearly as concerned with the non-moral decisions of your day-to-day as He is your sanctification. Of course, God cares about where you work, who you date, and what you do with your free-time, but far more than any of that, He simply wants you to seek His kingdom and be holy as He is holy. The book is short and can be read in a day. It is full of cultural insights and biblical truths. I highly recommend it to anyone struggling to understand God’s plan.
Life is full of questions. Where should I go to college? What degree should I declare? What city should I live in? Should I get married? Who should I marry? How many children should I have? On any given day, we our faced with thousands of decisions. In many ways, our lives are a reflection of all the decisions we have ever made.
Have you found it difficult to discover God’s will for your life in questions like the ones above or others like them? Of course, it is natural and even wise for Christians to seek God’s will in these areas; however, many Christians feel confused by doing so because His answers are not always discernible.
In his book, Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will, Kevin DeYoung says, “maybe we have difficulty discovering God’s wonderful plan for our lives because, if the truth be told, He doesn’t really intend to tell us what it is.” DeYoung promotes the idea that God’s goodness, providence, and sovereignty can be trusted, even when we don’t know how His plan for our lives will unfold. In other words, our faith in God should drive our decision-making, not our knowledge of His specific plan for our lives.
I have wanted to read this book for years. It is more than a decade old now but has been brought to my attention numerous times since it’s release. Most of my interest has come from my own grappling with discerning God’s will. Like you, I’m bombarded with a myriad of decisions on a daily basis. It’s frustrating when I pray about decisions and sense no direction from God. At times, the absence of clear direction has caused me to avoid making decisions altogether (which actually is a decision, but I digress).
My own wrestling with God’s will has kept the book on my radar, no doubt, but also my appreciation for Kevin DeYoung as a pastor, teacher, and author helped sustain my interest. I have read other books by DeYoung that were encouraging and helpful. I have also benefited from his teaching ministry as I occasionally download his sermon messages. It will not surprise you then to know the content in Just Do Something was like a breath of fresh air.