Book Review: Plan B

I recently had the opportunity, through BookSneeze, to read the book Plan B by Pastor Pete Wilson.

The tagline for Plan B is this: "What do you do when God doesn't show up the way you thought he would?" Wilson aims to guide the reader through those difficult "Plan B" times in life where you find yourself wondering where God is and why he allowed things to happen the way they did. While Wilson does not claim to understand WHY God allows us to go through painful and frustrating experiences, he does provide some good insight into how scripture suggests we handle such times.

Overall, I found this book to be encouraging. My favorite part involved Wilson comparing our "Plan B" situations to the Saturday before Jesus was resurrected. Jesus' followers probably thought all was lost, because they had just watched their savior be beaten and crucified. How awful they must have felt on Saturday, not knowing about the miracle that was coming the very next day! In hindsight, we know the purpose of the crucifixion was greater than any of them could have imagined, but on that Saturday I can't imagine how devastating it all was for them.

I must add, however, that I found one chapter in particular (Chapter 8: Darkness) to be quite discouraging. I left the chapter with a feeling that anytime things are going right, I can expect that something horrible will happen soon so God can bring me closer to him. While I do believe God uses difficult situations to strengthen our relationship with him, I do not believe that there is always something terrible waiting just around the corner for us. With that in mind, I would definitely recommend this book for anyone going through a "Plan B", but not necessarily for those who want to be ready "just in case".