What do you do when God doesn’t show up the way you thought He would? If you have ever asked that question…and if you haven’t, you will at some point…then Pete Wilson’s new book Plan B is a must read. I appreciate the fact that Pete used a lot of Scripture and connected Bible stories to relevant situations that we are all dealing with. He also doesn’t try to preach at the reader about how he has figured this out for himself. This book is pretty raw and deals with things that all of us are going through, have gone through, or will walk through with someone we love at some point.
I received this book in the mail a few weeks ago as a part of the Book Sneeze blog review program with Thomas Nelson Publishers. The goal was to have this book read and reviewed by the first week of May. However, I am a high school principal…and there are about a million things going on in May that require my attention and I am just now getting this done. The book was especially relevant as I watched the devastating weather that flooded my hometown of Memphis, TN and a lot of friends in Nashville, TN just a couple of weeks ago.
Joseph has always been one of my favorite Biblical characters. In Plan B, Pete talks about the story of Joseph in Genesis and points out that you can make all the right choices in life but still encounter hard things. There is no flowchart or map that you can follow that will keep you from heartache, stress, and sadness. The purpose of this book is to help you see that God is with you even in those difficult times.
Here are a few points Pete made that really stood out to me as I was reading:
- “I’m so frustrated with the version of Christianity where we actually think our theology can fit onto a bumper sticker, a T-shirt, or a bracelet. Reality isn’t that simple. The reality is: Christians often have more questions than answers. Sometimes we lack the faith that gives us sustained hope. Even though we know God is with us, sometimes we feel utterly and completely alone. Even though we believe, we doubt. And even when we suspect God knows what he is doing, we really don’t want to do things his way.”
- Abraham and Sarah waited expectantly to have a child. (Genesis 11-21)
- Jacob waited (and worked) for Rachel to be his wife. (Genesis 28-29)
- Joseph waited longingly in prison. (Genesis 30:20-41:39)
- John the Baptist also waited to be rescued from prison. (John 14:1-12)
- Noah waits a hundred and fifty days for the floodwaters to recede. (Genesis 6-7)
- The Israelites waited some forty years to enter the promised land.
- The early Christians waited for Jesus to return.
- “My greatest fear for my life and for yours is that we’ll just get busy and distracted and settle for a mediocre, unexamined life. It’s that we’ll just settle into life as usual and never become the persons God intended us to be.”
- “Instead of an answer, God offers us something better. He offers us a solution. He offers us the cross.”
- “Somehow, mysteriously, when we receive the love of Jesus into our lives through suffering, when we decide to choose that love and share it, we keep suffering from having the last word in our lives.”