I just finished my latest read (ok, one of my latest reads).  It’s called “Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will” by Kevin DeYoung.  It caught my eye as I purused the Christian Book section in the local Barnes & Noble.  First, a little background…

When I headed to college, I faced the monumental challenge of choosing a tube of toothpaste for myself.  I had yet to endeavor on such a venture and the task proved far more cumbersome than I had ever anticipated.  I literally surveyed the fluoride-filled products before me for a good 20 minutes before settling on one.  Why?  Because sometimes I just stink at making decisions.  Whether it’s something simple like toothpaste or something far more significant (though not to my pearly whites, to be sure) like whether or not to move back to Texas from North Carolina, I, like many Christians, struggle at times to figure out what we “should do.”

DeYoung, as the title suggests, does propose a liberating approach to finding God’s will and it is best summed up in the final sentence of the book.

So the end of the matter is this: Live for God.  Obey the Scriptures.  Think of others before yourself.  Be holy. Love Jesus.  And as you do these things, do whatever else you like, with whomever you like, wherever you like, and you’ll be walking in the will of God.

Certainly this is a profoundly different approach than most of us take as we pray to know God’s will concerning everything from who we should hang out with on Friday night to who we should marry or where we should work (two topics DeYoung deals with specifically in the book).  DeYoung suggests approaches like loving and searching the scriptures, pursuing wisdom, prayer and seeking counsel over agonizing in prayer for God to simply show you what to do.  While not discounting prayer or piety in desiring to do God’s exact will, his position is that since God is sovereign you are always in His will, and furthermore God’s revealed will to you primarily deals with moral issues leaving the rest to sound judgement, knowledge, and wisdom.

I really, really liked this book and suggest it anyone, clergy or layperson, interested in this approach to walking in the will of God and decision-making.  It’s a very short read-the average reader could likely tackle it in a few hours time-and pretty simply (not weak, just simple).  It was a refreshing book that I highly reccommend to all my friends.