Second Chances

Jonah 3:1 captures a pivotal moment in one man's life while also giving us a wonderful glimpse of the grace of God. The verse simply says, "Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time" (Jonah 3:1).

Jonah didn't deserve a second chance. God's message had been clear: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it" (Jonah 1:2). But Jonah headed in another direction, toward Tarshish. Why did he disobey God's instructions? Blinded by prejudice, he didn't want God to show compassion to Nineveh, the capital city of Israel's Assyrian enemies (Jonah 4:1-3). There may have been other factors as well. Was Jonah unsure of himself? Did he have other plans? Was he simply afraid?

No matter why Jonah disobeyed God, there's no doubt about the results. Rough sailing. A severe storm. And a remarkable intervention by God, who provided Jonah with an underwater prayer closet where he could think things over. Inside the fish Jonah cried out to the Lord in a prayer of repentance, commitment, and thanksgiving. After three days and three nights (which must have seemed like a very long time both to Jonah and to the fish!) the peevish prophet ended up on the beach filthy but alive, with a second chance to obey.

Out of the mess emerged a message. Most of us are more like Jonah than we'd like to admit. Have you ever tried to run from God? Have you ever struggled to obey a plain command of Scripture? Has your disobedience resulted in a storm? Have you found yourself tossed into a sea of trouble so deep you couldn't escape on your own? In the midst of the mess, have you somehow heard God's message?

Thank the Lord, he is the God of second chances! He glues the pieces back together when we've been broken by our own sin or even by painful circumstances beyond our control.

After he killed an Egyptian and hid the dead body, it must have seemed that Moses' dreams also were buried in the desert sand as he fled to Midian. Eventually, though, Moses went to the mountaintop with God.

A woman with a questionable reputation lived in a city where most people around her had no regard for the God of Israel. Eventually, though, Rahab became a great example of faith.

A woman endured famine and widowhood at a tender age, but God blessed Ruth. Centuries later one of her descendants was none other than the Messiah himself.

God transformed Amos from a fig-picking shepherd into a powerful prophet.

He made a brash fisherman into a great leader even though Simon Peter denied Jesus three times.

He turned the church's Enemy Number One into the apostle Paul.

He took wicked people—the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexual offenders, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, slanderers, and swindlers—and he washed them, sanctified them, and justified them "in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

God is amazingly patient and gracious. "He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities" (Psalm 103:10). But whether it's the first time, the second time, or the thousandth time, we need to hear and heed his Word. After all, it's our destiny "to die once, and after that to face judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). There will be no second chances then.