The God of the Second Chance

Would you give someone a second chance if they had badly failed you the first time? Most of us probably would, but what if they failed you again and again. At what point would you stop believing in them and decide to write them off? Up until this point we have been thinking about us giving others a second or third chance. Now let me change that round and challenge us with the thought, “Should God give us a second chance when we fail Him?” The short answer is no. He shouldn’t. But the truth is that He does, and He keeps on doing it. Our God isn’t just the God of the second chance, but the third, fourth and fifth and many, many more.

Thomas Edison was working on creating a “light bulb”, an incredible endeavour that took a whole team of men working flat out for twenty-four hours to put just one together. The story goes that when Edison was finished with one light bulb, he gave it to a young boy who nervously carried it up the stairs to have it tested out. Step by step he cautiously climbed the stairs, obviously frightened of dropping such a priceless piece of work. Yes, at the top of the stairs the poor young lad dropped the bulb! It took the entire team of men twenty-four more hours to make another one. Finally, tired and ready for a break, Edison was ready to have his bulb carried up the stairs. He chose to give it to the same young boy who dropped the first one. That’s a second chance.

The Bible is full of people that God gave another chance to – Samson, David, Jacob, Jonah, Peter and many others. All had failed quite spectacularly and yet God wasn’t finished with them. He was always ready to give them a second chance or a third one. In fact, we only run out of second chances when we stop trying. God won’t ever give up on us.

I know from my own life that I have failed God many times and still do. Yet He keeps on trusting me. Over the forty-seven years I have been a Christian one of the biggest lessons I have learnt is to never stop trying, to not allow the enemy to make me believe that, because I have failed God, I must be a failure. Don’t ever accept that title, because if you do then you will believe you are destined to fail. Instead believe God’s word that you are an overcomer! When the enemy knocks you down through your personal sinful failures, be quick to repent and get back on your feet and keep going. The enemy hates it, and God loves it. Keep on keeping on!

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You that You never give up on me and You don’t want me to give up either. Help me to keep the time gap between failure, repentance and getting back on my feet as short as possible. The enemy wants to keep me down, while You want me to get up and get going. Today, help me to turn to You and with Your strength, love and support, keep on serving You. Amen.