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A Review of Enough—A Book by Will Davis Jr

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Will Davis Jr is the founding and senior pastor of Austin Christian Fellowship in Austin, Texas, and the author of several books, including the Pray Big series.

I first met Will in 1986 when he hired me as a part-time youth pastor at the church he was leading. We both were young, in our mid-twenties. Will was a very good communicator then, and he still is today, both as a speaker and as a writer.

Will has written a book, Enough—Finding More by Living with Less. It is a book encouraging us to recognize that we already have enough. We do not need to continue accumulating stuff. With current and biblical life examples, Will makes a valid case for living with less.

Like the authors of books such as, The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns or Radical by David Platt, Will’s paradigm is shaken when he begins to meet others who live much poorer lives than we do.

Will begins with a premise that there is an enough revolution brewing in our culture. He invites us to join this revolution and discover what it means to “move toward enough.”

He quotes a prayer from an obscure biblical character named Agur:

…give me neither poverty or riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” And if I am poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name. (Proverbs 30:8-9)

Will lists 10 reasons why to live with enough:

  1. You’ll have more time.
  2. You’ll have more peace.
  3. You’ll help your relationships.
  4. You’ll be more content.
  5. You’ll have less or no debt.
  6. You’ll be prepared for tough financial times.
  7. You’ll be better equipped to respond to need.
  8. Your life will be simpler.
  9. You’ll have better intimacy with God.
  10. You’ll have more joy.

Will also describes a mindset that he calls a “right here, right now mindset.” It is a mindset that we have a enough for ourselves, in fact, everything we have is not really ours. It is available for however God wants to use it anytime, anywhere. That is what I call living with open hands.

As I wrote in my last blog, How to See God Move in Everything We DoWill defines people with a right here, right now mindset as people “who look for opportunities in the details of their daily lives to align themselves with God’s kingdom work.”

Will does a good job of not causing guilt over having wealth or possessions, but he does intentionally get us to think about why we have more than we need.

I appreciate how Will challenges us to not just live with less, but to understand why we have been given more than we need and what to do with our excess.

At the end of each chapter Will provides a few thoughts to help reflect on what was just read. This is helpful because some of the material begs for a time of internal reflection.

Will ends the book with this statement:

You can strive or you can depend. You can achieve or you can receive. You can hoard or you can share. You can hang onto what you have, settle for the best you can do, and bless no one in the process. Or you can release what you have, bless countless others, and receive more than you could ever imagine.

What will you do?

If you wish to learn how to live a life with the right here, right now mindset and join the enough revolution, then I strongly recommend this book.

How do you think this book can help you live with a right here, right now mindset? You can leave a reply below.

About the Author

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I am a longtime Austinite. Married my beautiful wife over 35 years ago. Adopted our son September 2012.
As a small business and nonprofit coach/consultant, I have found my sweet spot. I lean on my varied background of corporate, small business ownership, writing, and pastoring as I work to help small business owners and nonprofit founders build the business they want to have.


  • Whoever said “the more possessions you have, the less time you have” and “the more technology you have, the less time you have” were right on the mark! As the owner of a lake house, boat, jet skis, computers, i-phones, i-pad, etc. I am frustrated with the time and money that is spent on maintaining, repairing, and learning how to use. I grew up Mennonite and am ready to go back to simple living!

    Another challenge is to think about stewardship- even if you choose simple living. I know some folks who are minimalists but they are tight-fisted with their stuff, not quick to loan it out (afraid the little they own will get broken), not willing to open up their homes or give people rides. As we downsize, let’s still be generous and use what we keep for eternal purposes. A meaningful exercise I did recently was to walk through my house and garage and ask God how my possessions were being used for His Kingdom and what needed to go. It turned purging into a time of praise and thanksgiving.

    • Dawn,
      Will does a great addressing these points that you bring up in his book.

      The time factor is deceptive. We often complain that we don’t have time to spend with other people or help others in need when in reality we are spending a lot of our time doing the things you talk about here.

      Your second point is one of Will’s main points of the book. The wrong result of “moving toward enough” is hoarding. It is a good reminder that we can not take any of this with us when we die.

      Another good point that Will makes is how wealthy we are in this country. He quotes a statistic—If you have an annual income of $20,000 in the United States, you are in the top 11% of richest people in the world…$50,000—top .09%…$100,000—.06%

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