No Plan B: Returning to God’s Original Plan for Your Life

By Randal A. Wiedemann

No Plan B - The third book by Randal Wiedemann - helps Christians recognize the temptations to go it alone and trust themselves rather than God. The message of our age is to have Plan B ready, in case God’s plan doesn’t work for us. Sooner or later, we are faced with the failure of Plan B. Having made a mess of things, we often try to make things right on our own, only to drift further away from God’s ideal plan for us. Eventually, we begin to believe we’ve burned our bridges back to Him. Randal provides hope by sharing stories of men and women in the Bible who made their way to Plan A. Some were tempted by Plan B, but stayed with Plan A. Some were beguiled and gave in to Plan B, eventually realizing their need for redemption and restoration to Plan A. The true heroes of the faith learned how to persevere and deliberately live in Plan A the rest of their days. If you too have ever entertained the hope of living a life in the center of God’s will, No Plan B is an excellent step in your journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Oct 12, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973642466

Randal A. Wiedemann

Randal A. Wiedemann has an M.B.A. from the University of Cincinnati, and a Master’s in Practical Ministries from Cincinnati Bible Seminary. He is an authority on making mistakes and experiencing the grace of God firsthand. Randal is president of an aviation consulting firm and lives with his family in central Kentucky. Randal's ministry to nursing homes began when he visited his mother at Dover Manor. It has continued and grown over the years. He has recorded stories about this process to help others discover their hidden ministry talents.

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Copyright © 2018 Randal A. Wiedemann.

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This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scriptures Taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-4247-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4248-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4246-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018912096

WestBow Press rev. date: 10/12/2018

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1     What is Plan B?

Not Seeking God in All Our Ways

Deliberate Hiding from God

Human Reasoning

A Shortcut Mentality

Contrary to God’s Word

Urgent Timeline

Works of the Flesh

Plan B Is Deceptive

There Are Many Plan Bs but Only One Plan A

Chapter 2     What Is Plan A?

Plan A Is Perfect

Plan A Is Immense

Plan A Is Personalized

Plan A Is Not Automatic

Plan A Is Positive and Not Negative

Plan A Involves Supernatural Timing

Plan A Is the Result of God’s Sovereignty

Plan A Still Requires Prayer

Chapter 3     Biblical Examples of Plan B

Adam and Eve

The People of Babel

Abram and Sarai

The People of Sodom and Gomorrah

Lot’s Wife

Nadab and Abihu

Uzzah

Saul

King Ahab

The Pharisees

Judas Iscariot

Chapter 4     Bible Heroes Who Learned from Plan B

Abraham

Moses

King David

Jonah

Simon Peter

Paul

Chapter 5     Bible Heroes Who Stayed with Plan A

Joseph

Elijah

Daniel

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

Esther

Gideon

Ruth

Mary

Chapter 6     Plan A in the Life of Jesus

A Divine Beginning

Jesus in the Temple

The Ministry Call of Jesus

The Testing of Jesus

Jesus Prepared for Plan A with Prayer

Jesus Spoke Boldly

Jesus Did Not Fear Evil or Disease

Jesus and the Hypocrites

Jesus Declared His Divine Identity

Jesus Defended God’s Identity

The Disciples Tried to Push Plan B

Jesus Against Religiousness

The Garden of Gethsemane

Knowing Jesus’s Mission

Chapter 7     Plans A and B in the Parables of Jesus

The Prodigal Son

The Good Samaritan

The Ten Virgins

The Ten Minas

The One-Mina Man

The Tenants

The Sower

The Weeds

The Net

The Sheep and the Goats

Workers in the Vineyard

The Rich Man and Lazarus

Chapter 8     Learning to Live in Plan A

You Are Worthy of the Plan A Life

Plan A Is About Rebirth

Hearing from God

Fan the Flame of Your Faith

Give Up the Newspaper Route

False Preconditions for Living Plan A

Tell Other People About Jesus

Growing in God and Being Uncomfortable

How to Switch from Plan B to Plan A

Persevering in Plan A

Epilogue

Preface

I wrote this book for all of us who have blown it and have needed a second (third, fourth, etc.) chance to make things right. There is good news. God never gave up on us and He has maintained His original plan for us from the beginning. We were the ones who gave up, particularly after we sinned enough to think we had burned our bridges back to God. We were the ones who devised Plan Bs as a work-around for the path we knew was right.

In my Plan B days, I thought it was impossible to get back to the plan God had for me. Given my sinful past, I was afraid to turn back to what I now call Plan A. But there remains a longing, much like the Prodigal Son had, to return to our Father’s home. As long as we are working Plan B instead of Plan A, we will have this nagging, God-given desire to come back to Him. God has called us to fulfill our destiny as His sons and daughters. And He won’t rest until we have returned to His camp.

This book helps you to recognize when you are working Plan B and describes how to let God bring you back to Plan A. While Judas was a Plan B person all the way, Peter learned from Plan B and repented. He was restored to Plan A by Jesus Himself. Jesus already knew Peter would fall and yet, He had a plan for Peter that was much bigger than Peter ever imagined. The good news is that God is ready to restore each of us to something much better than we deserve. He knew we would get off course, but that did not change His wonderful plans for us. We can trust Him to do in us what we cannot do for ourselves.

I hope this little book helps you to think about how much better life will be by returning to Plan A in every area. We need not live a second-class life. We need not think about what might have been. Now is the time of grace for you to let God do all He desires to do for you. He isn’t mad at you about your past. He wants to heal you on the inside and walk with you into the glorious future that He has already planned for you. May God bless every one of you in your journey with Him.

Randal Wiedemann

October 2018

CHAPTER 1

What is Plan B?

The Bible claims that all people (except Jesus) have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Because you and I are part of the all, many of us have lost the original vision for our lives that God implanted in our hearts. We remember times that we failed in the past with some sexual sin, addiction, or relationship problem. We assume we are damaged goods and must be disqualified from the high calling of God that we think He holds for those other good people who haven’t gone off course as badly as us. We now face the fact that life on God’s sidelines will have to do. This second-class life is the foundation of spiritual Plan B.

As I define it, there are two types of Plan B – secular and spiritual. Secular Plan Bs have no moral impact. They are simply alternative ways of solving secular problems. Experience has taught us to have backup plans in case our first efforts don’t work. If you have a plumbing problem, you may consider using copper pipe or PVC pipe. With secular Plan B, there may not be one best approach, which could be called Plan A. That is not true about spiritual Plan B.

Spiritual Plan B is a workaround for our original spiritual Plan A. We do it for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it’s laziness or bad judgment. Sometimes it’s for short-term gratification. But mostly it’s because we think we are no longer worthy of God’s intimate love. Because of our past failures, we believe we cannot participate in the original plan God had for us. What’s worse, we figure that because we have already blown it, we may as well continue in Plan B because there is nothing better for us on life’s horizon. Inwardly, we know Plan B is not God’s best for us. We know we need something more.

The Andy Griffith Show was a sit-com in the 1960s that showcased the differences between Plan A and Plan B methods. In almost every program, there was a moral to the story. Episodes would revolve around situational problems: Barney would pretend to be a big-city cop, Opie would tell a lie, Andy would misjudge someone, or Aunt Bee would fool herself with vanity. At the end of each program, the person at fault would have to be honest about his or her shortcomings. Usually, it was Andy who would dispense the wisdom of Plan A in a down-home kind of way.

In Mayberry, Plan B seemed to promise success, but it never delivered satisfying results and often took longer than Plan A would have. It’s the same for us. Had we approached our problems with God’s help, using His methods, we could have solved them more quickly. Jesus said, I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber (John 10:1). This other way is Plan B.

If we really, really understood the love of God, we would never live one second without it. However, once we take ourselves out of Plan A, we begin to use Plan B mentality on all we do. You can recognize Plan B because it has one or more of the following characteristics:

• Not Seeking God in All Our Ways

• Deliberate Hiding from God

• Dominated by Human Reasoning

• A Shortcut Mentality

• Contrary to, Or Not in Keeping with, God’s Word

• Urgent Timeline

• Filled with Works of the Flesh

• Is Deceptive

• Has Multiple Paths

Are you trapped right now in Plan B mediocrity? Is it difficult to remember a life without regrets? Are you praying just to get by and to function a little better in Plan B? If so, it’s time to trust God to do superabundantly, far over and above all we dare ask or think! God’s wants to restore us to His original plan. It may not be easy, but neither is staying in Plan B!

Not Seeking God in All Our Ways

When we disqualify ourselves from the dream God puts in our hearts, we lose the hope that energizes us. We settle for Plan B and quit seeking God in all our ways. The Bible admonishes us: In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (Prov 3:6 KJV). However, in Plan B mentality, we don’t believe we can approach God. It’s too late. We’ve had our chance and blown it.

In my Plan B days, I only consulted God when absolutely necessary. That would be when really bad things were happening. At that point, I figured I would have nothing to lose, so why not call upon God? But when good things were happening, I didn’t bother God about them. Instead, I would make my own plans and hope that He would bless them.

Going to God first in everything we do will save us time, money, and heartache. I remember getting involved in the Florida real estate boom in 2006. The thought of making a lot of money without working hard was so exciting at the time. Unfortunately, I got in at the tail end of the boom. I ended up buying high and selling low – the opposite of my plan. Once the market started tanking, I remembered God. Then, I tried to bargain with Him, promising to give a portion of any profit to His work. As things got worse, I promised all the profit. However, the market did not turn around. I lost a lot of money, but I learned to remember God before getting into a carnal chase for what the world offers.

All day long, we make decision after decision. How many of these do we take before God? Would it bother Him to listen to us, particularly if it is a secular decision? The Bible says no, we should acknowledge or check with God in all our ways. In another place the Bible says we are to take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ. Every thought. Sometimes the excitement of the chase or potential reward leads us into projects without God. That is Plan B. We do it because we have not considered God in all our ways.

Deliberate Hiding from God

When we are not connected to God because of our past, we deliberately hide from God. Jesus put it this way: This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed (John 3:19-20).

When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, their eyes were opened, and they saw their nakedness before God for the first time. They were ashamed and wanted to hide (Gen 3:9-10). Like them, when we’ve sinned, there is a natural desire to hide it. And rightly so! No one wants to incur God’s judgment. When we are on the wrong side of the law, we don’t want God to look at us.

The funny thing about hiding from God is that we can’t. God is omniscient, or all-knowing. He knows where every subatomic particle is. David said in Psalm 139, Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there (Ps 139: 7-8). God not only knows where we are, He knows what we are thinking. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely (Ps 139:4).

Jean-Paul Sartre, the French existentialist and playwright, loathed the gaze of God, saying it was dehumanizing. He argued that when we are watched by God, we become objects and are no longer free. Instead of rejoicing that we have a divine Companion, Sartre took it the other way and mourned our lack of absolute freedom. He wanted to find some way to make Plan B work.

As Christians, you and I know the answer. The gospel says Jesus paid the penalty for my sin and your sin and that we do not have to be ashamed before God. When we surrender to God and receive the salvation of Jesus, we can walk boldly into His throne room because of what Jesus did for us. Instead of being afraid of God’s gaze, we can bask in it, knowing that He loves us enough to send Jesus to rescue us from eternal death. However, even though we know what’s right, our pride makes it very hard to do it.

Human Reasoning

Again, when we cut ourselves loose from God’s direction and correction, we are in