PLAN B - What Do You Do When God Doesn't Show Up The Way You Thought He Would?

Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a Plan B? Do you know what a Plan B is? Well, I really didn't either.According to Pete Wilson, pastor of Cross Point Church in Nashville, Tennessee, a Plan B is when you realize your life and dreams aren't going as you planned or maybe you feel like your life is crumbling around you.  Plan B situations can include:

• The death of a child
• A serious illness
• Not getting that dream job you worked so hard for
• Divorce

These Plan B situations usually leave you asking, "God, where are you?" or they may leave you wondering, "why did God let this happen (or not happen)?"

In his new book, Plan B, Pastor Pete Wilson points out that "throughout life, you will face one situation after another that will be completely beyond what you can handle", but he uses scripture and real life situations to show that God is always present in your life, and God is always in control, even when you are in the midst of a Plan B situation.

While reading Plan B, I started thinking, "have I ever been in a Plan B situation?"

• Two miscarriages
• Death of my father
• Divorce

Of course, if you read my blog, you may be thinking I have been thrown into quite a few Plan B situations when Hollie was a teenager:

• Self mutilation
• Drug use
• (near) drug overdose
• Rape
• Attempted suicide

And as a single mom having to deal with these situations, I often felt God had abandoned me.  I had raised Hollie going to church, teaching her from the Bible, and the next thing I know, I'm telling the judge that my child is incorrigible and needs to be put on house arrest, and the whole time I was thinking, "Hello...God...where are you?".  And every time I had to call Pearl Police to pick Hollie up and bring her home, I would be thinking, "OK God, why are you letting this happen?"  I was struggling to keep Hollie from destroying herself, and many times, it all seemed so hopeless.  I thought God had disappeared.

But...had God really disappeared?

Reading Plan B made me realize that God never left me alone.  I just didn't "see God in my circumstance". God is always present, and he is always in control of every situation, no matter how hopeless it may seem.   Pastor Pete reminded me that "God does his best work in hopeless situations".

Hollie now wants to be a youth minister.  She asked me one day if I thought God allowed her to go through these bad situations (Plan B's), so she could help other teenagers going through the same thing.  Reading Plan B helped me better understand that God used all these Plan B situations to prepare Hollie to serve him.

Plan B offers you hope, guidance, and insight when your world is looking rather bleak and is a book I'm going to keep around if I ever have for when I have another Plan B episode in my life.

"While life is uncertain,

God is not.

While our power is limited,

God is limitless.

While our hope may be fragile, 

God is hope himself."

Watch the video below of Pastor Pete discussing Plan B situations.



PlanB Promo from Cross Point Church on Vimeo.


Click on any of the blue quotes "links" above to be taken to Without Wax.TV, Pastor Pete's website.

"Pete Wilson is the lead pastor of Cross Point Church in Nashville, Tennessee.  Pete aspires to lead churches to become radically devoted to Christ, irrevocably committed to one another, and relentlessly dedicated to reaching those outside of God's family." You can obtain your copy of Plan B from any local bookstore or online at:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0849946506/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1YHG11WJWN0PYVY02EGV&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846



 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”