Plan B is the highly acclaimed first book by pastor and author Pete Wilson.

Remarkably, in the same week of the book’s official release, Wilson and everyone living in his hometown of Nashville, TN are climbing out of an unexpected and grueling Plan B situation.

More on that in a minute. First, what does Plan B mean?

Traditionally, the term refers to taking control of a situation by putting a new plan into motion when the primary plan has failed.

Wilson says he wrote Plan B for people whose lives haven’t turned out the way they planned (Plan A). They’re feeling hurt, confused and hopeless and aren’t sure a Plan B even exists.

Plan B brings real-life and Biblical stories together to portray some of life’s most difficult trials. The kind that bring great disappointment. This could be a:

• Betrayal by a friend
• Job loss
• Divorce
• Terrifying health diagnosis
• Sudden death
• Disillusioning church experience
• Financial reversal
• Shattered dream
• Deep depression
• Unmet expectation
• Addiction
• Broken relationship
• Wayward child
• Criminal attack
• Natural disaster

Wilson says there are three sources for these types of disappointments: 1) our own actions, 2) the actions of others, and 3) totally random events.

Whatever the source, Plan B is not about being in control, which Wilson calls “the greatest of all illusions.” Plan B is about surrendering control … to God. Plan Bs represent an opportunity to watch God work when things aren’t going according to plan.

Nashville’s Plan B

This past Friday evening life started out like any other weekend for residents of Nashville. Less than 24 hours later, the entire community would be engulfed by life-threatening floods. By Sunday, the greatest two-day rainfall total on record had inundated the city.

People were forced to stay home. Others couldn’t get home. Many of the area’s interstates were underwater and impassible.

Churches, including Wilson’s, canceled their Sunday morning services. At 1:37PM Sunday afternoon, Wilson tweeted, “Starting to hear stories about Crosspoint.tv staff and families who are losing their homes. Heartbreaking.”

By Monday, the Associated Press reported the loss of 28 lives in three states.

Thousands were struggling with a Plan B dilemma of historic and tragic proportions. Life had been turned upside down. People would again ask difficult questions.

Questions

Why did the flooding hit Nashville on this particular weekend?

Why did people die?

Why did Christian people lose their homes?

Why was life totally disrupted?

Where was God during the floods and what was His purpose in this Plan B?

Something better than answers

Throughout the book, Wilson confesses that he simply doesn’t have answers to huge questions like these. He’s learned from personal experience that God often doesn’t answer them either.

Wilson doesn’t leave readers to grope through their Plan Bs alone.

He writes, “Instead of an answer, God offers us something better. He offers us a solution. He offers us the cross. Faith is saying I choose to believe in you, God, more than this or that tragedy. Scripture insists there will be a day, in this life or the next, when God brings resolution and redemption to your Plan B suffering:

Crying may last for a night,
but joy comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:5)

Choosing hope in the midst of suffering matters most. Still shocked from Nashville’s flooding, members of Wilson’s church, other Christians in the community and the author himself are getting to live that out.

“The morning after a storm is remarkably pretty and hopeful,” tweeted Jenni Catron, Executive Director at Crosspoint on Monday morning after the torrential rains.

Thom Rainer, President and CEO of LifeWay, and his wife Nelli Jo were on their way to Florida when the Plan B storm hit. They were unable to get back home in time. The main floor of their house was spared but there was significant damage to lower level. Even worse, they had no flood insurance because they weren’t in a flood zone.

The Rainer’s response was recorded in this blog post “Why not me Lord?” “I was having trouble reconciling why we were spared the most devastation when others were not. I do find myself asking, “Why not me Lord?”

As Nashville’s cleanup process began, Wilson tweeted, “This is crazy (chill bumps)! I’ve never seen so many volunteers who keep pouring in (to the church). Love being the hands & feet of Jesus in Nashville today.”

An entire community had mysteriously been given an opportunity to receive the love of Jesus into their lives through a shared Plan B experience. Wilson might say, “By living that love and sharing it, Nashville’s Christian community will keep suffering from having the last word in their lives.”

That’s Plan B. If you’re in the middle of a struggle, reading it will bring hope. Or, reading it will prepare you for the next time life isn’t turning out the way you thought. You can’t go wrong with a reading plan like that.

The Author

Pete Wilson is the founding pastor of Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN.

Cross Point is a six year-old church which reaches over 2,500 people each weekend through its three campuses located around the metro Nashville area.

Pete’s a pastor, speaker, and author who resides in Nashville with his wife, Brandi, and their 3 boys, Jett, Gage, and Brewer.

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.”

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I notice in my own reading…this doesn’t happen very often…that I’ll read a book where the impact of the thinking of that book is so powerful that I want to withdraw from everything else that I’m doing and absorb myself in the study of that book because I’m interacting now with ideas that are so penetrating that they capture me.”  –R.C. Sproul

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