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Have you heard of Pete Wilson?

He’s a Nashville pastor who just so happened to star in Taylor Swift’s music video “Mine” along with his wife and 3 boys. Gotta see it now? Here ya go:

In addition to his great hair and looks, ability to produce some fine looking offspring that can double as Taylor Swift’s future kids, Pete Wilson has written a couple of excellent books.

A few years ago, I read his book called Plan B: What Do You Do When God Doesn’t Show Up The Way You Thought He Would.

I’m gonna give some copies of Pete’s book away on my Friday Fun & Free Stuff post…

So watch for the Tweet tomorrow morning: @BrianDolleman

Here are some quotes from Plan B:

I’ve never heard of anyone’s journey of faith that hasn’t had a Plan B story.

A Plan B situation is when we have more questions than answers.

Your dreams may not be happening, and things aren’t turning out the way you expected, but that doesn’t mean your life is spinning out of control. It just means you’re not in control.

I think we often treat God like we do a vending machine… maybe not consciously. Maybe we’d never say it. But we still assume that if we do all the right things, say all the right things, and have the right attitude, we can simply press a magic spiritual button and get whatever it is we desire in the moment. We’re looking for a quick spiritual transaction that doesn’t necessarily lead to a deeper level of intimacy but gives us what we want. And like children, we want it now!

Even in the midst of a Plan B, you really have only one task, one calling. And that is to do what you would do if you were confident God was with you.

When people ask me how they can know God’s will for their lives, I tell them the best first step is to know God. Beyond that I don’t really have any steps.

I’ve discovered that sometimes God wants us to live inside of the questions. Sometimes he wants us to linger in the waiting, hoping, praying. In fact, sometimes it’s right in the middle of our darkness, in the middle of our crisis, in the middle of our Plan B struggles that God speaks most clearly.

There is an undeniable relationship between Plan B and the glory of God.

Wanna follow Pete on Twitter? Here ya go: @pwilson

Also—he has a great blog. Check it out: withoutwax.tv

We all have hopes, dreams, and plans.

Even when I was in 8^th grade, I was making plans for my future—which included driving a Pontiac Fiero and living on a sailboat (OK, I admit it: I was a big fan of Miami Vice and I wanted to be Sonny Crockett).

When you think about the birth of Jesus in terms of God’s plans, the story is incredible. God becomes man, with the purpose of going to the cross and redeeming humanity. The penalty for our sins is paid in full.

Like the Hark the Herald Angels song says, “Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.” This plan of God’s is fantastic. The best.

But from the Mary and Joseph point-of-view, everything about the Bethlehem story seems inconvenient, less than desirable, and outside their best laid plans…

• Their engagement is interrupted by a positive E.P.T. and Joseph isn’t the father.
• An angel visits Joseph and says (I’m paraphrasing), “You have no choice in the matter. You will marry her.”
• In the final trimester of her pregnancy, Mary has to travel by donkey to Bethlehem for a census.
• Tom Bodett didn’t leave the light on at his Bethlehem Motel 6. There’s no room at the inn.
• The baby is coming and they are staying in a barn for the night.
• Mary’s child is born in the company of farm animals.

God’s plan? Yes.

His master plan actually.

Mary and Joseph’s plan? Not exactly.

And yet, in all of the inconvenience and uncomfortableness of Mary and Joseph’s Plan B, there was hope. There was life. And there was God—his presence and his work.

Mary and Joseph found a room where there was no room. It was a miracle—maybe a little one, but it was just what they needed at that moment.

I believe you also will find a room where there’s no room.

Hope in the midst of your Plan B.

Life in the midst of your Plan B.

God, right there—his presence and his work, in the midst of your Plan B.

I’m assuming in the next few weeks you will be going to a family or office Christmas party with some type of gift exchange. Yes?

And perhaps this gift exchange will be the type where everyone gets a number—representing their turn to select a present from under the tree. You know this game, right? It’s the one where you can steal a gift from someone who already selected it.

So, I have a question for you:

How do you select a gift without knowing what’s under the wrapping?

Do you select by size? Weight? How nicely the package is wrapped and decorated?

I gotta be honest—I never want the one in newspaper wrap.

I figure the weird single guy brought it.

And I’m pretty sure he picked it up at Walgreens on his way to the party.

It can’t be anything I want.

Yes, I’ll look past the newspaper-wrapped gift every time.

It’s interesting, when God gave the greatest gift of all time, he chose “packaging” that people looked right past…

Check out this prophecy (written 700+ years before the birth of Jesus) from the book of Isaiah:

There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look. He was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand. One look at him and people turned away. We looked down on him, thought he was scum.

But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!

He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we get healed. We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost. We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way. And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong, on him, on him. (Isaiah 53.2-6 MSG)

Wow. Talk about newspaper wrap.

“Nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look.”

“He was looked down on and passed over.”

The greatest gift ever, and yet so many didn’t notice.

Maybe this should cause us to pause, think…

And look.

Really look.

Yes, God is in the big—the spectacular.

But He is also in the small—the seemingly insignificant.

The truth is, God is everywhere. He is with us. Have you noticed?

Take note of God’s presence and his work

Stop and think about it

God with you

The Spirit of God living in you

The same Spirit of God, who raised Christ from the dead, lives in you (Romans 8.11)

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. (Ephesians 3.20)

His Spirit working in you

You are not alone

God is with you

The other day, I went for a 28 mile bike ride.

Usually I bring my iPhone and listen to music for two hours during the ride.

This time, I didn’t bring it with me.

And I noticed more stuff along the way…

I saw an owl (for the first time in my life).

I stopped and watched a huge bald eagle searching for his lunch in the Cedar River.

I noticed homes and shacks along the trail that I didn’t see before.

I was less distracted and more in tune with my surroundings—so I noticed more stuff.

This makes me wonder, how often do I miss God?

Would I notice His presence and His work more in my life if I wasn’t so distracted?

Speaking of Jesus, the Gospel of John says, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” (John 1.14 MSG)

Matthew says, “And they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” (Matthew 1.23 NLT)

And the book of Hebrews reminds us,

For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 1.3.5 NKJV)

God’s presence and His work is constant.

I want to be undistracted.

I want to notice.

And be aware.

Recognizing God, in the big and the small.

I want to see His work in my life and in the lives of those around me.

Whenever I see TOMS (you know, those little slip-on shoes), my first thought is always, “Those shoes stink.”

I’ve never had a pair of TOMS myself, but someone who lives in my house did have a pair.

And those shoes stunk.

Here’s the formula: sweaty feet + no socks + shoes = stink.

If you don’t believe me, just find someone wearing skinny jeans and a pair of TOMS—ask them if you can smell one of their shoes. I guarantee it: they stink.

Peter probably wasn’t wearing TOMS or skinny jeans, but his feet were dirty and stunk, and Jesus knew it.

Demonstrating the kingdom value of serving others, Jesus washed his disciples feet.

When it was Peter’s turn, Pete declined.

Jesus said, “If you refuse the foot washing, you’re refusing me altogether.”

So Pete quickly changed his tune. “Wash all of me then!”

I imagine Jesus rolled his eyes just a little bit when Peter said that.

He replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean.”

Basically, Jesus was saying, “Pete, it’s your feet—your feet stink. I’m gonna take care of that now” (John 13.10).

Peter didn’t need to get saved all over again. He was already saved. He belonged to the kingdom of God…

And his feet stunk.

He had the stink of sin on him.

It happens—to us all. Every one of us stinks like sin.

The Bible says if we break just one little rule—we’re guilty of breaking all of God’s big rules (James 2.10).

It’s really not an issue of big sins or little ones, sins that “count” and ones that don’t. Sin is sin.

We like to think if we keep our TOMS on, no one will ever know that our feet stink.

We like to think our “little” sins can be nicely decorated, covered up, and contained—and no one will ever know…

But Jesus does know.

We all carry the stink of sin and we all need to be washed by Jesus.

We all need the grace of God. Apart from the grace of God, nobody is saved—and nobody makes it into His kingdom.

The Good News is: there’s grace for us all.

God isn’t surprised by the stink of sin on us.

We don’t have to cover up, fake it, or hide.

We just give Jesus access—and let him do the work.

PS—I bet the next time you see TOMS you’ll think what I think.

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