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

Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will by Kevin DeYoung
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am reminded of my shallowness of having a laugh at (at the expense of) many wonderful single ladies who seem to have the gift of celibacy. They are mighty in ministry and have a great sphere of influence, some of them with a Masters or PhD in theology or ministry. Some have gone out to the mission field for years and have come back in middle age, and sometimes when you know these lovely ladies personally, it makes me wonder whether they have ever thought of getting married. Yes I know what Paul says that singlehood is preferable and I understand why he puts forth that suggestion in the perilous time of the early church's persecution. However, I scratch my head and ponder why some of these middle aged ladies share that they had simply been too choosy and perhaps had waited too long.

But onto my own life, when I finish my degree, it is so scary to think of what will happen next. Do I pursue a Masters or PhD? And if so, in the UK or US or somewhere else? Or I first get some ministry experience by going into full time ministry? and if so, for how long? Where should I go into ministry, in a church, or parachurch or perhaps even take on a full time job and hold a lay-leadership position? Is it God's will for me to marry the girl I am dating now, or if there is difficult times prior to engagement and marriage, could it be that she is not the one for me?

These are serious questions. And many of them will impact who I am and who I will be as a person in future. I picked up DeYoung's book after thoroughly enjoy his book on "Crazy Busy." As a slowly reforming thinker away from postmodernism, I connected with his authenticity and passion for God. The first few chapter were like... nothing special... but as i continued to flip the pages, the content spoke increasingly to me. Ever read a book that had an amazing first few chapters only to water off into extreme boring-ness? This book is far from it. The closing chapter on grandpa DeYoung struck me right in the heart. I was saddened by the many years of wanting my will to be done, and for God to show me supernatural signs to convince me to do otherwise.

I had done an extensive intertextual study on asking God for signs (especially before making a decision on matters large or small), as part of a two part youth cell group study. As a pentecostal, I have had various experiences of supernatural encounters in the spiritual realm. Yet the reformed theologian resonate with DeYoung's approach because I am convinced that signs were more often than not, initiated by God, and not by man.

Just today in bible school we were joking that the more power encounters a person has, the less "holy" he should be regarded to be. Because the more "holy" ones should be the ones who did not need a supernatural encounter with the Lord before daring to make a decision. But in all seriousness, I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend this book.

And if you are interested to know which part of Scripture I had done in the study here are the verses: Gen. 9:8-17, Exod. 7:1-5, Num. 14:1-12, Isa. 20:1-6, Ezek. 4, 12, 24, Luke 2:8-15, 25-35, 1 Cor. 1:18-22, Mk. 8:11-13, Mt. 11:2–6 (par. Lk. 7:18–23), Mt. 12:28 (par. Lk. 11:20), Mt. 12:38–42 (par. Lk. 11:29–32), John 2:18-22. Do comment if you notice that I had missed an important passage on this topic so that i can add it into the study when I conduct it in future!

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Review & Highlight: Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem

Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem by Kevin DeYoung
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

DeYoung authentically shares about his personal struggle with busyness. DeYoung shares that busyness is not a worn as a badge of honour, but because he is so bad at managing his life that he writes as a fellow straggler. In his words, he hopes that us readers will find the book "highly practical and accessibly theological" (p17).

Indeed many of us are addicted to crazy busyness in spite of the emotional, spiritual and physical toll it has on us. An anecdote from DeYoung that resonated with me: "I read an anecdote once about a woman from another culture who came to the United States and began to introduce herself as 'Busy.' It was after all the first first thing she heard when meeting any American. Hello, I'm Busy. She figured it was part of our traditional greeting, so she told everyone she met that's who she was." (p16)

DeYoung suggests that busyness can ruin our joy (p26), rob our hearts (p28) and cover up the rot in our souls (p30). In Chapter 4, The terror of total obligation, I was reminded that "Jesus didn't do it all. Jesus didn't meet every need. He left people waiting in line to be healed. He left one town to preach in another. He hid away to pray. He got tired. He never interacted with the vast majority of people on the planet. he spent thirty years in training and only three years in ministry. He did not try to do it all. And yet he did everything that God asked him to do." (p50)

I relate to his sharing that "I can forget that my circle of influence will inevitably be smaller than my circle of concern. Above all, I can lose sight of the good news that the universe is not upheld by the word of my power (see Heb. 1:3). That's Christ's work, and no-one else can do it. Hallelujah - he doesn't even expect me to try." (p51)

We must set priorities because every yes we say, means saying no to something else. In chapter 5, Mission Creep, Deyoung shares that he too must set priorities because "I cant do it all" (p57) and "if I am to to serve others most effectively" (p60). He also "must allow others to set their own priorities" (p63), sharing that his "own tendency is to to be overly accommodating when put on the spot by an invitation like that. I usually overcommit and lead people on, rather than stating up front what my priorities are (probably because I like pats on the back and prestige and so many of the Ps in Chapter 3 - The manifestations of Pride (People-pleasing, Pats on the back, Performance evaluation, Possessions, Proving myself, Pity, Poor planning, Power, Perfectionism, Position, Prestige, Posting online).

He also helpfully advises "Don't always expect the lunch request to work. Don't get upset when your 'what do you think?' email doesn't get answered. Don't be offended if your need doesn't go to the top of the pile. Understand that people often say 'I'm busy' because saying 'I have many priorities in life and right now you aren't one of them' would be too painful. Don't think it rude if some people have less availability for you than you have for them. And don't begrudge people the time you are so so desperately fighting for. Unless we're God, none of us deserve to the priority for everyone else all the time." (p64)

No book about rest is complete without commenting about the Sabbath, to which DeYoung cites G K Beale's conclusions (from Pages 800-801 in his 2011 book titled A New Testament Biblical Theology): "First, the seventh-day commemoration in Gen. 2:3 and Israel's Sabbath ordinance is transferred to the first day of the week because of Christ's resurrection. Second, Israel's way of observing the Sabbath, with all its detailed requirements, falls away, and there is a return to the creational mandate. The observance of this mandate is a day of commemoration of God's creative rest, a celebration that Christ has entered that rest, that believers have begun to enter such rest, and a pointing forward to believers completely entering that rest. In addition, Christ's coming fulfills Israel's unique Sabbath commandment, since he is Israel's Messiah, accomplishing Israel's end-time exodus and representing true Israel and the end-time temple." (p90-91)

DeYoung puts forth a summary reflection about the sabbath in commenting, "I think the most important part about the Sabbath command is that we should rest in Christ alone for our salvation. But along with that there is still an abiding principle that we ought to worship on the lord's Day and trust God enough to have a weekly routine where we cease from our normal labours." (p91)

Busyness, as DeYoung disgnoses it, "is as much a mindset and a heart sickness as it is a failure in time management. It's possible to live your days in a flurry of hard work, serving and bearing burdens, and to do so with the right character and a right dependence on God so that it doesn't feel crazy busy. By the same token, it's possible to feel amazingly stressed and frenzied while actually accomplishing very little. The antidote to busyness of soul is not sloth and indifference. The antidote is rest, rhythm, death to pride, acceptance of our own finitude and trust in the providence of God." (p102)

[Spoiler alert - I highly recommend that you stop here and read the book to find out what DeYoung emphatically advises us to do to put a stop to our crazy busyness]

In the penultimate chapter of this mercifully short book, this is the "one-point plan" DeYoung calls us to restore order to our life (p113) - "spend time everyday in the Word of God and prayer," that is if you are "sick and tired of feeling so dreadfully busy." This unfortunately is no-quick fix, which would have been great for us consumeristic people. Deyoung did not give us a specific time, as the emphasis is on a consistent habit rather than "a sporadic burst of fits and starts".

Even as a seminary student, I am heartened that DeYoung, the theologian and passionate student of the bible he is, relates to struggling with a devotional time just like I do. And to that, he tells us that "no single practice brings more peace and discipline to life than sitting at the feet of Jesus."

In the ending paragraph of the book, DeYoung has this word of encouragement to leave us with, "It's not wrong to be tired. It's not wrong to feel overwhelmed. It's not wrong to go through seasons of complete chaos. What is wrong - and heartbreakingly foolish and wonderfully avoidable - is to live a life with more craziness than we want because we have less Jesus than we need." (p118)

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DeYoung on "the perfect one"

"As a general rule, Christians are waiting too logn to get married" and "there is an overabundance of Christian singles who want to be married... it's a problem [he] puts squarely at the feet of young men whose immaturity, passivity, and indecision are pushing their hormones to the limits of self-control, delaying the growing-up process, and forcing countless numbers of young women to spends lots of time and money pursuing a career (which is not necessarily wrong) when they would rather be getting married and having children. Men, if you want to be married, find a godly gal, treat her right, talk to her parents, pop the question, tie the knot, and start making babies."

From Page 106 of:

Just Do Something

Amen to that pastor! Not to mention that guys are in short supply in Singapore churches and that some girls are waiting for "the perfect one"...

Thus saith your head la!

We need to be careful that we aren't using God as the trump card in all our decisions. Just because you pray doesn't mean your decisions are beyond objection. I know some people talk about God's work in their lives using different phrases. But if we say "God told me to do this" or "God's leading me here," this puts our decisions out of reach from criticisms or concerns.

We should choose some different terminology. "I prayed about it, and this seems best" or "it seems like the Lord is leading" would be a more helpful way of communicating our dependence on God. We don't want "God told me so" or "God laid it upon my heart" or "it's God's will" or worse yet, "God told me that he wants you to do such and such" to be conversation stoppers that remove accountability in decision making.

From Page 47 of 

Just Do Something