Second chances
| Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: 2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you." 3 Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city--a visit required three days. 4 On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." (Jonah3:1-4) |
Let's not read past that too quickly...
"a second time..."
God is patient, gracious and kind - He gives Jonah a second chance.
- Even after Jonah's dubious prayer in the fish's belly...
- Even after his suicidal refusal ("throw me overboard")to bend his knee to God...
- Even after his buried his head in his pillow while the storm raged
- Even after he booked a cabin and bought a ticket to sail to a place where God was not
What have you done that makes you think that you are disqualified from serving God?
How have you slipped up that causes you to believe that God is done with you?
How have you messed up that you think that God cannot possibly use you?
Many of us, like Jonah, are standing on the beach blinking in the bright sunshine after a helter skelter time entangled in the fishy innards of our failure. And we stand there believing that it's all over.
But God's word comes to us:
"I can still use you."
"I still want to use you."
"We can move on from here."
I think of another beach where Jesus walked with a broken Peter...
The God who met Jonah, the God who met Peter, the God who meets you and me is the God who gives second chances.
